Earlier in the season, as the Hawks chained defeats and poor performance in the soft underbelly of the Eastern Conference, Trae Young wanted to be reassuring. The young leader of Atlanta always sold his unchanged refrain, according to which nothing was lost to hang the playoffs. That a small series of victories would be enough to put them back on the right track…
Now on five wins in a row, after having quietly disposed of the Kings Thursday night at home, the promises of the leader of the Hawks are becoming reality. Atlanta is well and truly back in the race in the East, just 2 wins from the Celtics, current eighth…
A reinforced concrete bench!
Above all, for the first time since January 3, 2020 (almost two years ago!), the Hawks had no player on the injured list and the difference was glaring with 70 of the 120 points scored by Atlanta substitutes, including 18 points and 7 assists for Bogdan Bogdanovic, back after his knee injury.
“It’s something that has never bothered me in my career. I’ve always preferred to win.” says Bogdanovic in the AJC Journal. “During the summer, you can set goals and you can discuss, but during the season you have to make sacrifices. We all have a good life, getting paid to play a game we love. To win, you have to make sacrifices. “
Besides the Serbian sniper, Onyeka Okongwu also finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds, while Lou Williams added 15 points and 5 assists. Danilo Gallinari (7 points, 9 rebounds including a back dunk) and Delon Wright (6 points) also brought their stone to the building.
“They really gave us a boost,” confirmed McMillan. “Our five majors started rather slowly but the substitutes came on and really imposed our defence. We managed to make a few stops and we were able to go in transition. They found a good cohesion even though Bogi hadn’t played much with them. It was good to see these guys playing well together. “
Hawks finally up their game defensively
Another essential point of this clear revival of form for the Hawks: their defense. Ranked in 27th position, at the very end of the pack, over the season, Atlanta has raised the tone on its current series of 5 straight wins, by pointing to 8th place among the best defenses in the NBA (tied with the Bulls).
“I always thought that the only thing that kept us from being the team we should be was our defense”adds Clint Capela, the anchor of the Hawks in defense. “We’ve always been able to score 130, 140 points but the other teams can do it too and that didn’t give us a good chance of winning. We have made progress defensively and we are giving ourselves a better chance of winning. When you can hold a team under 100 points, especially for a team as talented as ours offensively, it’s a huge change. “
After three of his last four games at 30 points or more, including a peak at 37 units against Minnesota, Trae Young (17 points, 10 assists) did not have to force too much last night. His Hawks are gradually finding all their elements and their defense is also starting to (re)take shape. After beating Miami and Milwaukee on their current series, the last conference finalists are well and truly back!
“We are a playoff team. We’re only beginning to look like it.” concludes Okongwu. “We just have to continue to stay consistent and stretch our current good streak. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Trae Young | 42 | 34.8 | 45.5 | 38.0 | 90.0 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 9.3 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 28.0 |
| John Collins | 41 | 32.1 | 53.7 | 42.6 | 79.7 | 1.8 | 6.1 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 17.0 |
| De’Andre Hunter | 18 | 29.3 | 45.9 | 39.2 | 70.0 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 13.2 |
| Bogdan Bogdanovic | 28 | 28.7 | 41.2 | 35.4 | 77.1 | 0.3 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 12.0 |
| Cam Reddish | 34 | 23.4 | 40.2 | 37.9 | 90.0 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 11.9 |
| Kevin Hurter | 39 | 29.1 | 46.0 | 36.6 | 80.6 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 11.5 |
| Clint Capela | 38 | 29.5 | 57.0 | 0.0 | 46.5 | 4.0 | 8.8 | 12.8 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 11.5 |
| Cameron Oliver | 2 | 21.6 | 66.7 | 33.3 | 66.7 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 11.5 |
| Danilo Gallinari | 36 | 23.1 | 41.8 | 40.0 | 92.7 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 10.4 |
| Chaundee Brown | 3 | 27.7 | 36.0 | 40.0 | 83.3 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 9.7 |
| Onyeka Okongwu | 14 | 24.1 | 74.3 | 0.0 | 69.4 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 3.4 | 9.2 |
| Wesley Iwundu | 3 | 27.4 | 44.4 | 60.0 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 7.3 |
| Lou Williams | 32 | 14.3 | 38.3 | 30.9 | 87.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 6.8 |
| Malcolm Hill | 3 | 15.3 | 62.5 | 60.0 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 5.7 |
| Timothe Luwawu-cabarrot | 31 | 13.9 | 39.0 | 35.4 | 85.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| Delon Wright | 41 | 17.9 | 45.1 | 43.1 | 80.6 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 4.4 |
| Skylar Mays | 18 | 10.3 | 51.7 | 32.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 4.3 |
| Gorgui Dieng | 32 | 9.7 | 46.4 | 41.3 | 73.9 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 3.6 |
| Kevin Knox | 3 | 9.9 | 40.0 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 3.0 |
| Jalen Johnson | 11 | 4.7 | 47.1 | 33.3 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
| Lance Stephenson | 6 | 11.6 | 38.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.8 |
| Sharif Cooper | 10 | 3.5 | 21.4 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| Solomon Hill | 13 | 10.7 | 15.0 | 15.4 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| Cat Barber | 3 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
