In case you have been stuck under a rock for the better part of three weeks, the Atlanta Hawks have rattled off a recent streak of winning not seen since the days of Paul Millsap and Al Horford.
With their 1oth straight win over the Orlando Magic on Magic City Night Monday night, Atlanta has laid claim to the longest win streak since the end of January 2015 — 4,065 days ago from today as I write this on Tuesday.
Clearly, many things are now working for this team that just a few weeks ago sat at 27-31.
Here are my top 10 reasons why the Hawks are streaking.
Jalen Johnson, closer
Jalen Johnson made his first All-Star Game this season, and deservedly so for his absolutely bonkers numbers so far.
Those numbers bear revisiting: per-game averages of 23.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 8.1 assists on 59% true shooting. Only four players in NBA history have ever hit those points, rebounds, and assists per game benchmarks in a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Russell Westbrook, and Nikola Jokic.
But his biggest contribution of late has been in finishing off opponents within sniffing distance in fourth quarters. Johnson is sixth in the league in points in the fourth quarter on 60.3% true shooting. His real superstar turn may be in taking over when the brightest lights are on him.
Dyson Daniels’ hustle and grit
Dyson Daniels doesn’t need a three-point shot to absolutely wreck opposing teams’ gameplans. So far this season, he’s fourth in deflections per game with 4.2, third in total deflections with 269, and second in loose balls recovered with 62.
Plays like this one last night where he goes all out for the ball are almost a nightly basis:
Or this tip rebound as he heads out of bounds leading to a score:
Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s Most Improved Player push
As of Tuesday morning, ‘NAW’ is fourth in the league in made threes with 205, and he’s converting at a 39% clip. Last night, he set a new career high with 41 points behind 9-for-14 (64%) shooting from deep.
But these haven’t been the product of simply standing in the corner. Rather, he works hard for these looks by moving off the ball to find openings. Watch him sprint from the strong side corner for this look — an effort level that Desmond Bane simply doesn’t match:
How he does this for 33 minutes a game in 65 games to this point while handling the ball more than ever, giving tons of effort on the defensive end, and generally excelling in a much larger role than he’s ever had, I’ll never know.
The new starting unit gelled immediately
Inserting CJ McCollum into the starting lineup for Zaccharie Risacher raised some eyebrows initially, but the Hawks immediately rattled off on their winning streak ever since. It’s beyond fair to say that move has worked.
But this lineup isn’t just passing the test — they’re acing it with flying colors. The new starting lineup is boat racing opponents to the tune of +29.1 points per 100 possessions in 217 minutes this season, by far the highest margin of all NBA lineups with at least 100 minutes played.
Sharing is caring
The Hawks are in the middle of a historical season in terms of sharing the ball. Currently, they are second in assist percentage (the percentage of made field goals that are assisted) with 70.2%, second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.13), and tops in assist ratio (the percentage of possessions that ended with an assist) at 20.5%.
The teams’ offensive ethos has been ‘random basketball’ where dribble-handoffs and off-ball screens create tons of confusion for defenses, and the many willing passers on this team have cashed in tons opportunities to create easy looks for each other.
Bench depth
The in-season additions of Gabe Vincent, Corey Kispert, Jonathan Kuminga, and Jock Landale have given the bench many options to mix and match as needed. Gone are the days of the dreaded Keaton Wallace-Luke Kennard-Vit Krejci lineups. Now the Hawks can stagger one of the starting guards with bigger and more physical presences at hand.
Offensive rebounding
The Hawks had difficulties extending possessions early in the season, and it was clear the tradeoff of bodies back in transition defense wasn’t quite worth it. Prior to the All-Star break, the Hawks were 27th in the NBA in offensive rebound rate (the percent of available offensive rebounds secured) at 27.3%
Now, with the likes of Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher crashing the glass relentlessly, post-All-Star break the team has been fourth in the entire league over that stretch with an offensive rebounding rate of 34.4%.
Defensive rebounding
The story is similar on the defensive side of the ball. The week layoff and homestand has helped the Hawks put up more of a physical fight for box outs and positioning on the glass as of late.
The team went from 21st in defensive rebounding rate (68.9%) prior to the break all the way to first in the NBA (76.4%) since. Now that’s what I call a turnaround.
Coaching adjustments
I wrote about Quin Snyder putting Dyson Daniels on Giannis Antetokounmpo when it was clear the matchup was problematic. Two games ago, Snyder inserted Mouhamed Gueye in Jock Landale’s place in the second half bench unit against the Brooklyn Nets.
And last game, he used double big lineups with Jalen Johnson at the 3 (although to not a great effect).
The coaching staff has had to constantly tinker during a season of wild roster turnover, and they’ve now found solution after solution during this latest stretch.
The vibes are immaculate
After every big play, you see locker room vet Buddy Hield and others engaged and cheering. The home crowds in State Farm Arena are providing ample energy.
The locker room continues to reference a vibes shift in recent weeks, and the wins have followed.
After the game yesterday, Jalen Johnson said it himself, “I think the best way to describe it is we’re resilient. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. Team has looked different at times. But at the end of the day, we remain together. With us remaining together, that allows us to stack these types of wins, go on a winning streak like this, get a big win like tonight against Orlando. Just the little things that’s we’ve been doing off the court, in practice, have a created a sum. This is the result.”
