BOSTON — Brad Stevens was texting with one of his assistant coaches Tuesday night, both watching the Philadelphia 76ers face the Atlanta Hawks on their respective TVs. With two minutes left in the first half, Stevens noticed the Sixers were down by just five points, hanging with the seemingly unstoppable Hawks.
Then, as the Celtics head coach put it: Bang.
Before the Sixers knew what hit them, Kyle Korver hit two consecutive 3-pointers and Mike Scott hit another to give Atlanta a double-digit lead at halftime. The change in momentum was substantial, yet unsurprising.
“Korver’s the most challenging player in the league that averages less than 13 points to prepare for, because he absolutely changes the game,” Stevens said before his Celtics took on the Hawks on Wednesday at TD Garden. “He’s also a terrific screener, and probably one of his most underrated qualities is when he comes off a screen, he picks the right pass.
“If you pay him too much attention, wherever your attention comes from, he reads it well. He’s mastered the pin-down (screen). It’s a simple act in basketball, just a down screen away from the ball, and he’s mastered all the reads. He plays at a great speed, he plays with physicality and he puts you in a predicament.”
Korver’s not the only Hawk who inspires such praise. Ask an opposing coach about any of Atlanta’s key players, and he’ll gush just the same. Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague should be All-Stars, and a case could be made for Al Horford and Korver. None of them have garnered much hype, however, because the Hawks, who own a comfortable four-game lead atop the Eastern Conference, are the definition of a team.
No player averages more than 16.9 points per game, but the Hawks outscore teams by 6.7 points per 100 possessions. They lack a traditional shot-blocker, yet they’re holding opponents to a lower field goal percentage at the rim than the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans, all of whom employ rim-protecting big men.
Perhaps Atlanta’s most astounding feat is moving the ball without giving up transition points. Typically, teams that pass a lot commit lots of turnovers, leading to lots of opponents’ fast breaks. Not the Hawks, who rank first in assists and 16th in turnovers committed while giving up the fourth-fewest fast-break points per game.
Coach Mike Budenholzer can only turn to humor when asked for an explanation for that.
“I don’t know,” Budenholzer said. “Transition ‘D’ is the hardest trick you have. You watch film and you can’t solve the riddle. We talk a lot about transition. We have some pretty basic, fundamental principles that our players break on a regular basis. We try to get them to break the rules less.”
During this run in which they’ve won 26 of their last 29 games, the Hawks have been dubbed “Spurs East.” Budenholzer is a former San Antonio assistant, so it makes sense. Until 2013, though, the biggest thing Atlanta had in common with San Antonio was that free agents were loathe to go there. Millsap, who signed a two-year, $19 million contract there that summer, changed that.
“Talking to coach, talking to his staff, they wanted to implement a system that involved everybody,” Millsap said after the Hawks brushed aside the Celtics 105-91. “A lot of coaches say it, but I felt really positive and confident when he told me this was going to happen. That’s why I’m here.”
About the only controversy the last two months has involved Budenholzer’s Spurs-esque strategy of resting key players in back-to-back games. Millsap and Teague sat out against the Sixers; Korver and Horford against the Celtics. Millsap, a hard-nosed Louisiana kid and former second-round draft pick who prides himself on being ready to work every night, wasn’t a fan of the night off in Philly.
Asked a day later — after another Hawks victory — whether he was still slightly miffed at his coach, Millsap smiled:
“He must know what he’s doing, right?”
Thumbnail photo via Steve Dykes/USA TODAY Sports Images
