Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
The Atlanta Hawks stopped a long drought in San Antonio that had lasted over two decades.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Wachter/USA Today.)
I didn’t even realize there was this type of streak happening but the Atlanta Hawks finally did what this franchise couldn’t do in nearly 23 years: win in San Antonio.
Granted, they’re from different conferences so they only face each other twice per year (once in each other’s home court). But that is still a lot of games that the Hawks lost in San Antonio. The last time they won in San Antonio? February 15, 1997. The Hawks had lost 20 straight games in Texas (should have been 22 but we had lockout-shortened seasons in 1998-99 and 2011-12 and in those seasons, the Hawks didn’t play in San Antonio).
Amazingly, Gregg Popovich had just started out as the Spurs coach the last time the Hawks won there. It was the season when then-franchise player David Robinson sat out in all but 6 games for the Spurs. Popovich fired Bob Hill and became the coach on December 10, 1996. Today is January 18, 2020 and he is still the San Antonio Spurs head coach.
By the way, after that season? The Spurs fortuitously got the #1 pick and selected Tim Duncan in the 1997 NBA Draft. This started a run that saw the Spurs win 5 NBA Championships.
The funny thing about that 1997 game? Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins was playing for the Spurs in that contest. It was a bad Spurs team that lost by 20 points against the Hawks that were led by Dikembe Mutombo, Steve Smith, and Christian Laettner (Laettner’s NBA career is mostly forgotten but he did make one all-star appearance and it was in that season). The coach for the Hawks? Lenny Wilkens. While the Spurs finished 21-61, the Hawks ended up at 56-26 as the 4th seed in the East. Yes, the East was that powerful at one point.
That was the last time the Spurs had a losing record. They’ve reeled off 22 straight winning seasons since. They might miss the postseason this year, too, so that playoff streak is also in jeopardy.
As for the Hawks? What happened in the last 23 years?
After Wilkens left in 2000, the Hawks have gone through 6 coaches (Lon Kruger, Terry Stotts, Mike Woodson, Larry Drew, Mike Budenholzer, and current coach Lloyd Pierce). After an 8-year absence in the playoffs, the Hawks made it to the postseason 10 straight seasons (including a 60-win regular season and an East Finals berth in 2014-15). The five coaches before Pierce failed to win in San Antonio. Yes, that included the 60-win Hawks. By the way, the Spurs were the defending champions that season.
The Hawks did not beat the Spurs in San Antonio the whole time Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili were there. But Vince Carter, the current oldest player in the league and the only player left in the NBA drafted in the 1990s, stayed long enough to be in that Hawks team that defeated the Spurs in San Antonio.
Also, 6 players on the Hawks roster were NOT born yet when that 1997 Hawks win happened.
This is making me feel ancient. Let’s do that some more!
1997? The Chicago Bulls were on their way to winning their 5th NBA championship.
The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl 31 with Brett Favre on the helm. Two weeks from now, we are going to have Super Bowl 54. Ewww.
In Major League Baseball, the Florida Marlins would win the World Series that year. You know them now as the Miami Marlins. The Marlins were only in their 5th season in the MLB when they won.
The Detroit Red Wings would win the Stanley Cup in 1997. They would repeat the next season.
The #1 movie in the box office when the Hawks won? Star Wars: Episode IV was re-released in the theaters as everyone got ready for the prequel trilogy that would start in two years. The prequel trilogy AND a sequel trilogy have both been released since.
The #1 song during that time? Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton. That video also had hunky supermodel Tyson Beckford, who went on to host a show called Make Me A Supermodel on Bravo in the late 2000s.
The hot new shows in 1997? King Of The Hill. Daria. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The View. South Park. Dharma and Greg. Win Ben Stein’s Money.
I also graduated from high school in 1997 just to remind you how old I am.
Well, that quickly became depressing. My point was that the Hawks hadn’t won in San Antonio in a very very very long time.
Thank you, Kevin Huerter.
Bullet Passes
The Memphis Grizzlies have won 7 straight games and it’s seriously starting to scare me about their accelerated progession as a team.
I’m seeing Ja Morant/Allen Iverson comparisons on the Twitter side. It does seem like a combination of Iverson and Russell Westbrook where it just seems like… well, reckless is not the right word… but… well… devil may care attitude is right along the lines of reckless. He is throwing his body around and taking so many falls.
Also, this is called The No-Look Pass. I tend to ignore plays that were not finished but take a look at this ridiculousness:
unreal. pic.twitter.com/1OIDOjUxFt
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 18, 2020
That is off the page.
I really think the Sixers should get Furkan Korkmaz more involved. He’s one of the more reliable perimeter shooters they have. Korkman unleashed a career-high 24 points off of 6 for 9 three-point shooting in a Sixers win over the Bulls.
Norman Powell came back from injury that caused him to miss 11 games. We talked about how he had become more consistent before he went down. Well, he has resumed his banner season. Powell has averaged 23.7 points in 3 games since he’s come back. I almost feel like nobody is talking about this?!
The Miami Heat have won 29 games halfway through the season. I had them at 34, remember?
The Scoreboard
MIN 114 (15-26) @ IND 116 (27-15)
CHI 89 (15-28) @ PHI 100 (27-16)
WAS 111 (13-28) @ TOR 140 (27-14)
CLE 109 (12-30) @ MEM 113 (20-22)
MIA 115 (29-12) @ OKC 108 (23-19)
ATL 121 (10-32) @ SA 120 (17-23)
POR 112 (18-25) @ DAL 120 (27-15)
Watch This Play
Jae Crowder and Ja Morant on the break. Jae with the lob. Ja with the catch.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Bleacher Report.)
JA MAKIN’ ME CRAZY.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.