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What we learned as Steph-less Warriors struggle in bad loss to Hawks

What we learned as Steph-less Warriors struggle in bad loss to Hawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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The last time the Warriors beat the Hawks in Atlanta, Steph Curry (30 points), Kevin Durant (28 points) and Klay Thompson (27 points) combined to score 85 points in a 128-111 win at State Farm Arena. 

It was Dec. 3, 2018, six seasons ago. The Warriors now have lost their last six games in Atlanta after falling to the Hawks 124-115 on Saturday without Steph Curry to start a six-game road trip.

In the final three quarters, the Warriors outscored the Hawks by eight points. But they fell behind by as many as 20 points in the first quarter, and swimming upstream the rest of the way was too hard to overcome. 

Jimmy Butler led the Warriors with 25 points on 7-of-15 shooting and was 10 of 14 on free throws. Butler, plus-11, was the only Warriors starter with a positive plus/minus. Gary Payton II (plus-6) joined Butler as the only two Warriors to have a positive plus/minus. 

Trae Young had a 25-point, 10-assist double-double, but he wasn’t the only Hawk to star offensively. They had three players score at least 20 points, including 23 off the bench from Georges Niang.

The Hawks ended up shooting 57 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from deep. They dished 37 assists and outscored the Warriors 60-44 in the paint.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors losing once again in Atlanta.

DPOY Battle

As the Cleveland Cavaliers have lost four consecutive games, Draymond Green has risen to a neck-and-neck race with Evan Mobley as the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year. Hawks defensive ace Dyson Daniels is right there, too.

Daniels came into the day leading the NBA in total steals (194) and steals per game (3.0). Halfway through the first quarter, Daniels snuck from behind to steal the ball away from Green, drove down the court and finished with a tough layup over him. 

Green roamed as he always does in Golden State’s defense. Daniels began the game guarding Butler, and also spent time on Brandin Podziemski and others. Both were effective in their own ways.

Each player had three steals, and Green added one blocked shot. Awards season is creeping closer, and both stated their case to hoist the DPOY trophy.

Hawks Slice Dubs’ Defense 

Offense isn’t an issue for Atlanta. The Hawks since the start of February are top five in points per game, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage. There was no slowing them down Saturday on their home court. 

The Warriors in the first quarter fell into a 17-point deficit they couldn’t fully climb back out of. Simply put, the Hawks got whatever they wanted. Atlanta tallied 40 points on 64-percent shooting, going 16 of 25 overall and 4 of 9 on 3-pointers. Everybody put up points. 

Quin Snyder used nine players in the first quarter, and all nine scored. At halftime, the Hawks held a 12-point lead from shooting 60 percent (30 of 50) while handing out 23 assists and turning the ball over only three times. Onyeka Okongwu scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half.

Through three quarters, six Hawks had scored in double figures, giving them a 17-point lead entering the fourth quarter.

This was supposed to be all about containing Young. It wound up being about so much more. 

Podz’s Up-And-Down Performance

Without Curry, the ball was going to be in Podziemski’s hands, and his 3-point shot was going to be needed. Well, Podziemski did bring the long ball to Atlanta. 

He made two 3-pointers in the first quarter and another two in the third quarter. Podziemski made a fifth three in the fourth quarter, giving him a season high. He struggled scoring elsewhere.

Podziemski missed numerous chances right around the rim. Whether it was a layup, tip shot, floater or getting stuck in the paint, Podziemski found himself in more trouble the closer he was to the hoop. Podziemski was 5 of 8 on threes, but 1 of 6 on 2-pointers. 

Ending with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists is a strong stat line. Podziemski also was a minus-8 in 36 minus, and every opportunity for points becomes amplified when the Warriors don’t have Curry.

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Huff scores 26, Chattanooga knocks off Dayton 87-72 in NIT

Honor Huff had 26 points in Chattanooga's 87-72 win against Dayton on Saturday in the second round of the NIT. Huff shot 7 for 12 (5 for 10 from 3-point range) and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line for the Mocs (26-9). Trey Bonham scored 25 points while shooting 8 for 13 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line and added eight rebounds.

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Young gets away with blatantly obvious travel in Warriors-Hawks

Young gets away with blatantly obvious travel in Warriors-Hawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Hawks star Trae Young, looking like Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. evading the pass rush, got away with a blatant travel at the end of the first quarter against the Warriors on Saturday night at State Farm Arena.

With the Hawks holding a commanding 38-23 lead, Young was double-teamed by forward Jimmy Butler and center Kevon Looney.

Young picked up his dribble at the edge of the Hawks’ center-court logo and shuffled both feet until he was at the mid-court line.

By the time Young passed the ball to teammate Georges Niang, he was holding the ball at least a foot over the mid-court line.

The missed call came back to bite the Warriors as Niang found guard Caris LeVert, who hit a jumper at the first-quarter buzzer to give the Hawks a 40-23 lead.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr has been demanding the NBA train referees to call traveling more, and he might need to make another plea to the league after Young’s shuffle across the court.

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Virginia hires VCU coach Ryan Odom, whose father was a Cavaliers assistant

Virginia athletic director Carla Williams is hoping the obvious choice was the right one. Williams named VCU coach Ryan Odom — whose father was a Cavaliers assistant and who handed the program its most historic and crushing defeat in the 2018 NCAA Tournament — as the full-time replacement to Tony Bennett on Saturday. Odom’s season ended Thursday with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to BYU.

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Kings convert Isaac Jones to reported standard two-year contract

Kings convert Isaac Jones to reported standard two-year contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Isaac Jones has continued to grind and stay patient, and on Saturday, he was rewarded.

The Kings converted the young center’s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal, the team announced two hours before tip-off against the Milwaukee Bucks.

ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported, citing sources, that Jones’ new contract is a two-year pact.

On Wednesday, Jones reached the NBA’s maximum 50-game active limit during Sacramento’s 123-119 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jones has appeared in 31 games this season for Sacramento, averaging 8.3 minutes and 3.7 points in such contests.

In 11 games with the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate, Jones averaged 20.9 points on 55.5 percent shooting, with 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks in 32.2 minutes.

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NBA fines Pacers' Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard and Nets Trendon Watford for altercation

The Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers play again on Saturday night, but before that happens, the league handed down fines from when these teams played on Thursday night.

The Pacers' Andrew Nembhard was fined $20,000 for "initiating the altercation," while his teammate Myles Turner, as well as the Nets' Trendon Watford, were fined $35,000 for escalating the situation, the league announced.

The fourth-quarter altercation started away from the play as Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin drove for a layup.

Watford began to run back up court and bumped into Nembhard, and those two engaged in some relatively mild pushing and shoving. That's when Turner jumped in and escalated everything by shoving Watford, who pushed back, and things quickly escalated.

Nembhard and Watford were handed double technical fouls for their exchange, and the same is true for Turner and Watford for their escalation. That was two technicals for Watford, so he was ejected from the game.

Tonight's officials for the Pacers and Nets know what happened and may end up calling a tighter game to keep a lid on things.

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Celtics sale price of $6.1 billion could turn NBA attention back toward expansion

The NBA got the number it was hoping for in the sale of the Boston Celtics—a $6.1 billion valuation for the franchise, an NBA record by more than $2 billion (the Phoenix Suns sold at a valuation of $4 billion when Mat Ishbia purchased the team).

That sale was one of the things the NBA league office was waiting for before turning its attention to expansion. The league wanted a new, higher baseline for franchise values, allowing it to set a higher price for an expansion franchise. The league got the number it wanted.

Now, momentum toward expansion may pick up again.

While there has been plenty of talk about the NBA expanding — by two franchises, one in Seattle and the other very likely in Las Vegas — there has been no meaningful action on that front. In fact, expansion talk around the league has been very quiet. At the All-Star Game in February it was not a topic around the weekend, nor did it come up when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the media. The last time Silver said anything publicly about expansion was in November before the NBA's games in Mexico City.

"There’s no specific date set for expansion..." Silver said at the time. "The process has begun internally at the league office right now. It’s something that we’re continuing to model, to understand the economics of what it would mean to have additional teams."

Previously, the NBA had been waiting for both a new CBA and the new media deals to be in place before bringing up expansion to the Board of Governors (the body of NBA owners). With those locked in, there were some discussions in broad strokes, but the league wanted to see where the sale price of the Celtics fell.

Now the league might slowly turn its attention back to expansion, but this will not be a fast process. It's at least three years, and likely a couple more than that, by the time the league approves expansion, gets new owners in place, gets franchises and arenas built, and gets teams playing on the court.

Is the new asking price for an expansion team $6 billion? It's one thing to pay that figure for one of the largest sports brands in the NBA and the world, the Celtics, it's quite another to pay that just as an entry fee into the league, before adding in the expenses of building an arena and an organization. The NBA's ultimate fee for expansion may be lower than $6 billion, but the reality is the NBA will ask for as much money as someone is willing to pay to buy equity in the league (which is essentially what the new owners would be doing). That expansion fee money is split among the existing 30 owners (for example, two teams coming in at $5 billion each would lead to a $333 million payout to each franchise, money that does not get split with the players but goes straight into owners pockets).

That's a lot of money, which is why momentum toward expansion may pick up again.