We rarely saw the State Farm Arena in this state. Renowned for being one of the coolest rooms in the NBA, the Hawks' den was nevertheless overheated during the last quarter against the Bulls.
It must be said that the home team made an epic comeback, after being led the entire match and being up to 21 points behind in the third quarter, at the end of a perfect fourth quarter.
50 points scored, only one loss of ball
“The fourth quarter was just great basketball from us.” explains Jalen Johnsonauthor of his career best with 30 points at 11/16 shooting and 15 rebounds. “In all areas. We took care of the ball, we ran on the counter-attack, we made saves. If we make saves and play the counter-attack, it's hard for the opponent to be physical and we did a good job adjusting to the physical impact of the match. »
The strong winger was huge in this last quarter, which his team won 50-25 overall, with offensive rebounds in spades and only one lost ball in 12 minutes, after 11 “turnovers” in the first three quarters.
“Sometimes, during matches, we try to involve different guys, on different actions, that we wouldn't necessarily do in the fourth quarter, when it's tight and tense” explains Trae Young about this cleanliness in the finale. “It's a problem for some teams, and it's our problem sometimes, but it's a good thing. You're still learning but you know when it's time to focus and slow down to get good shots. We did that in the fourth quarter, making sure we got shots and didn't lose the ball. »
With 16 victories for 15 defeats, the Hawks are in any case at the gates of the Top 6 in the East, and they took advantage of the festive atmosphere of their State Farm Arena…
Need every last drop of energy
“It was huge. The day after Christmas, the support of the fans, we felt it in the fourth quarter. During our comeback, we felt their energy. We want to stop the opponents for us, but also for the whole room” confirms Jalen Johnson, who makes the same observation as Quin Snyder, his coach. “There wasn't much to get excited about for a lot of the game. We had absences, they took shots, the ball slipped out of our hands… But the public, when we needed them the most, they were there. For me, that's clearly the story of the match because it gave us energy and we needed every last drop of energy. »
Even if their balance sheet is barely balanced, Zaccharie Risacher and his teammates please their fans. They fight, they are capable of overturning matches and they have won the hearts of their supporters.
“When we came back into the game, we made shots… I always thought we had to give the fans something to get excited about. We started to do it in the fourth quarter, they gave voice and they gave us momentum. We fed off that, but also from each other” concludes Trae Young.
