The New York Knicks visit the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday in a matchup of two of last year’s marquee free agents, Dwight Howard and Joakim Noah.
- New York Knicks (16-14)
- Atlanta Hawks (15-16)
- Wednesday, Dec. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET on MSG Network
- Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
When Robin Lopez was shipped out to Chicago, it left a huge hole in the New York Knicks frontcourt. Suddenly the team’s greatest area of need shifted from point guard to center. The rumored candidates to fill Lopez’s spot were Joakim Noah and Dwight Howard.
The Knicks went with Noah and Howard ended up with his hometown Atlanta Hawks. According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, Howard was never an option for New York in the first place.
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The eight-time All-Star claims his reported interest in the bright lights of New York City was completely false.
“I never said that. I love New York, the Knicks are a great team. But that was something that was a lie,” said Howard, who drew interest from the Celtics and Blazers, among other teams, in free agency. “That was a rumor that was being put out there. Like I said, I have no issues with New York or the fans or the people there, but it’s just something I’ve never said.”
Noah’s poor performance has left Knicks fans wondering what could’ve been. Howard’s comments provide a little closure. Their team was never even in the running. It was always Noah.
The Knicks already have a home win over the Hawks from back in November. That one came without Noah in the lineup. New York has been a better team this season, but Howard has clearly been the better player.
We compared the individual 2016-17 performances of the two highly-paid centers.
Offense: Joakim Noah
The offensive side of the court has never been a friend to Noah. His career high in points per game is 12.6. Howard, although his offense has steadily declined in recent seasons, has put up phenomenal scoring numbers for such a limited skill set.
One of the biggest knocks on Noah this season is his lack of scoring. He’s played a total of 567 minutes so far and only made 54 field goals.
102 of his 115 field goals are in the restricted area, but his overall field goal percentage is just 47.8 percent. A large part of that is because Noah has only converted on 50 percent of his attempts in the RA. For context, the league average is 60 percent.
Noah wasn’t expected to score, but this has been a nightmare. It’s like playing four-on-five on offense when he’s on the court.
Offense: Dwight Howard
The Dwight Howard who put up 20 and 10 seasons by accident while with the Orlando Magic is long gone. Injuries got him. But being in Atlanta has forced Howard to play his most efficient offensive ball in years.
He’s only averaging 8.9 FGA per game (and is yet to complain about it) but still putting up 14.4 points. Howard’s third in the NBA in field goal percentage (.646) because he’s dominating in the restricted area (.709).
The most impressive part about Howard’s offensive game was how automatic he was when moving towards the rim. Per NBA.com, that hasn’t let up in 2016-17. Howard is in the 80th percentile of points per possession as the roll man in the pick and roll.
The Hawks are struggling to score (23rd in points per 100 possessions) so Howard has been even more valuable than they anticipated.
Defense: Joakim Noah
Noah was supposed to improve the defense from 2015-16 that finished 18th in points allowed per 100 possessions. He was brought in to anchor the unit like he did in his Chicago heyday. In case you’ve been living under a rock, things haven’t gone well.
The Knicks rank 23rd in points allowed in the paint, 25th in points allowed per 100 possessions, and 28th in defensive rebounding percentage.
Noah isn’t the only reason things have been such a disaster, but he’s one of the biggest. The former Defensive Player of the Year is defending 5.8 FGA at the rim per game and allowing opponents to convert on 57.3 percent of those attempts.
Noah has a career-worst individual defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 107. He’s not even close to the best defensive player in his frontcourt.
Thank God for Kristaps Porzingis.
Defense: Dwight Howard
Dwight has been one of the best defenders in the league. Per NBA.com, he’s in the top 10 in rim protection among players who defend 5.0 attempts at the rim per game.
His block numbers haven’t been dominant (1.4 per game), but he creates offense with his defense.
Howard is the anchor of Atlanta’s defense. They’re 11th in points allowed per 100 possessions and points allowed in the paint.
One area Atlanta struggles is guarding the perimeter, however. The Hawks are 26th in opponent’s three-point percentage. New York used that to their advantage in their Nov. win, going 10-27 from downtown. They should do it again on Wednesday.
Rebounding: Joakim Noah
The Knicks have repeatedly been killed on the defense glass this season, and Joakim Noah is a big reason why.
He’s only third on the team in defensive rebounding percentage, behind Willy Hernangomez and Kyle O’Quinn. The $72 million man is averaging the lowest rebound per game total since his second season in the league (’08-’09) and his team is suffering because of it.
One of the few things the Knicks didn’t have a terrible problem with last season was on the glass. Joakim Noah has been a downgrade from Robin Lopez in all facets of the game.
The calls for O’Quinn to replace Noah in the starting lineup have been due to the scoring differential, but when making this decision coach Hornacek also needs to take into account how much better a rebounder O’Quinn has been as well.
Rebounding: Dwight Howard
Dwight’s one of the best rebounders in the league. Maybe the best. He leads the league in rebound percentage and offensive rebound percentage. He’s sixth in defensive rebound percentage.
Per NBA.com, when Howard’s on the court, the Hawks have a huge rebounding percentage of 54.6 percent. When he sits that number goes all the way down to 46.0 percent.
That means when Howard’s on the court the Hawks end up with a rebound almost 55 percent of the time one is up for grabs.
Paul Millsap is second on the team in rebounding (8.1), but the huge drop off to third with Thabo Sefolosha (4.8) gives you an idea as to how much Howard does for his team.
Recap
Howard vs. Noah: The battle of the marquee big men that hardly anybody wanted. In Noah’s case literally, no one wanted him except for Phil Jackson.
The Knicks contained Dwight in their first meeting, sans Noah. He had 18 points and 18 rebounds, but it could’ve been much worse. New York wisely put him on the line 12 times, and he missed six of those attempts.
Can Noah pull a rabbit out of his hat and slow down Howard or will he be eaten alive as even the most optimistic of Knicks supporters expect?