On paper, this meeting between the Hawks and the Spurs was as exciting as it was a contested match. Except that, on the floor, it was nothing. Far from there.
Completely put out of harm’s way by the Texas franchise, the Atlanta players were logically crushed from start to finish, in front of their audience (136-121). Never really managing to make teammates doubt a brilliant Dejounte Murray (32 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists and 4 steals!).
Propelled by their All-Star leader, in full swing, the men of Gregg Popovich thus delivered one of their best performances of the season. Winning there the first victory of their famous annual “rodeo road-trip” and iNFLicting, as a bonus, on their hosts a third defeat in four games.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Dejounte Murray wins his duel with Trae Young. By equaling his points and assists records, in addition to setting the record for triple-doubles for a Spurs player (15, ahead of David Robinson’s 14), the Texan point guard made a very strong impression against the one who will be his teammate in Team Durant, at the next All-Star Game. Omnipresent, “DJ” flew over his duel with the leader of Atlanta, unable to stand up to him and overwhelmed, like all his teammates, by the aggressiveness in attack and defense of the leader of San Antonio. Because, in the paint, at mid-distance and even at 3-pts, it was the most total demonstration!
— Atlanta substitutes lonely. Led from start to finish, the Hawks did not exist today. At least when their incumbents were present on the floor because, when their “second-unit” was out, there was the best for Nate McMillan’s men. Combative as possible, Bogdan Bogdanovic (23 points) and Danilo Gallinari (16 points, 8 rebounds) did everything they could to wake up their troops. Except that they were starting from far too far, and were far too alone, to hope to overthrow a collective as confident as that of the Spurs… Hence this spanking conceded on arrival.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ The San Antonio Collective. If Dejounte Murray stood out, it was more generally all the Spurs who shone last night. From Devin Vassell to Keldon Johnson, passing by Doug McDermott, Jakob Poeltl, Joshua Primo or even Tre Jones, it was neither more nor less than carnage. No coincidence that the men of Gregg Popovich, insolent, planted 18 baskets at 3-pts, shot at 56% success or delivered 37 assists, while going 21 times on the free throw line. Running out of solutions, the Hawks took to the water and above all let each Texan player do the song for them, once present on the floor…
⛔ Atlanta Holders. As previously pointed out, the Hawks’ starting lineup was totally messed up today. Some, like Trae Young and Clint Capela, made their stats with a double-double apiece, but those numbers compiled in a vacuum shouldn’t overshadow Nate McMillan’s basemen were awful. Evidenced by their two half-time starts, as the locals were led 34-17 after seven minutes, before conceding a 13-4 entry into the second period. Between simply catastrophic defense and far too predictable attack, the Spurs therefore had no difficulty in flying to the score…
JAKOB POELTL FROM VERY, VERY FAR
Symbol of insolence in the Spurs 3-point shoot in the first half (12/17!), Jakob Poeltl took the opportunity to score the second basket of his career, behind the arc! Unheard of for him since December 2017, when he was still playing in Toronto.
And it was at the buzzer of the second quarter that the Austrian pivot hit the mark, sending a warhead from his half of the field in a casual and almost walking way.
But that prayer finally fell in, much to everyone’s surprise!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhqPFK75-ko
THE FOLLOWING
Atlanta (26-29) : trip to Boston, Sunday evening (8:00 p.m.).
San Antonio (21-35) : “back-to-back” in New Orleans, this Saturday evening (01:00).
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