The Atlanta Hawks won by a comfortable margin as they handled the Brooklyn Nets in a 141-107 victory at Barclays Center on Friday night. CJ McCollum led the scoring with 25 points with Nickeil Alexander-Walker adding 21 points. For the Nets, Nic Claxton led with 16 points.
The final scoreline ultimately deceives the true nature of this game. You’d look at that final margin and think this was a comfortable victory for the Hawks, with the visitors able to cruise for the majority of the game.
It looked
like this would be the case in the opening frame as the Hawks took a 35-17 point lead with a minute remaining in the first quarter — the Hawks punishing the Nets’ turnovers. However, the Nets finished the quarter on an 8-0 run, and an extended 14-0 run into the second quarter to reel the Hawks back to within three points and dash those early notions that this contest would be a wire-to-wire blowout.
The Hawks continued to press their advantage in transition and extended pressure to the Nets in those fastbreak situations, and behind this the Hawks were able to stabilize and push their lead back to double-digits. The Nets, however, kept the Hawks honest for most of what remained of the half, slipping late to a 16-point deficit as they entered the locker room at halftime.
The Hawks would have been expected to take care of business from this point forward, but the Nets kept the Hawks honest again in the third: the Atlanta lead never extended beyond 16 points in the third quarter, with the Nets reigning the Hawks’ lead to 10 points on multiple occasions in the third.
In the fourth quarter, Atlanta finally put distance between themselves and the Nets, pushing the lead out to 15 points, then 20 points, then 30 points as the bench was emptied, and finished at its highest of the night at 34 points to end the game. A 34 point final margin is probably what you would expect in a matchup like this, and while the Hawks were never threatened in this game (their lead never falling below 10 in the second half) but the Nets absolutely kept the Hawks honest — always one run away from bringing this game to single digits prior to the fourth quarter.
Postgame, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder was most pleased with how his side opened the game, beginning with a 10-0 run.
“I loved how we started the game,” said Snyder. “For the most part, over the course of the game, that was there. That’s who we are, and I think when we’re playing that way and looking for each other and helping each other on the offensive end — whether that’s a screen or a pass or running for somebody — that’s when we’re a more efficient offensive team. Our guys are really making an effort to execute in those situations.”
Where the Hawks looked at their most impressive was in transition, whether it was coming off of misses or off the many Brooklyn turnovers in the first half. For the game, the Hawks scored 35 points off of turnovers and 26 fastbreak points. Brooklyn’s turnovers also contributed to the Hawks attempting 11 more field goal attempts. Let’s take a look at some of these instances.
Good help by Gabe Vincent on the drive helps cough the ball up and the Hawks set off in transition. Atlanta moves the ball, and when it finds Alexander-Walker on the perimeter he drives inside and finishes with his left-hand at the rim:
Dyson Daniels pokes the ball away from Nolan Traore and finds Jalen Johnson in transition, who steps through the lane to finish at the rim for another fastbreak/points off of turnover basket:
Former Hawk Terance Mann loses control of his dribble, and CJ McCollum picks up the loose ball, carries it up the floor and rises into a three-pointer as Mann backs off:
On the dig on the drive, Daniels procures another steal and sets off in transition off the ball. McCollum outlets to Alexander-Walker, who finds Daniels to his right and finishes at the rim, adjusting well to avoid the Nets’ attempts to block the shot:
Off of a rebound from Noah Clowney, Daniels sneaks from behind to knock the ball loose for another steal. Daniels finds Johnson, who goes behind his back to find Daniels, who finds McCollum in the lane, who hits the floater:
The Hawks secured 11 steals on the game, with Daniels accounting for five by himself, but it was more than just Daniels who Snyder was impressed by defensively.
“Obviously Dyson and Nickeil are the head of the snake, so to speak, the two-headed snake,” said Snyder. “It raises other guys’ level when you see someone working like that. We’ve got Gabe comes in and picks up, and I thought Jonathan (Kuminga) tonight was terrific defensively. We’ve just got to make sure we have good offensive possessions and don’t turn it over, so we get a chance to set our defense.”
Kuminga’s effort in this game was notable; diving on the floor on a couple of occasions to try secure the ball or complete a steal. Offensively, Kuminga scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-3 from behind the arc, with Snyder praising his offense and how easy Kuminga is to play with.
“I think when you watch the game you see a late clock, get into the paint, pull up, some of those things, but to me, the thing that he’s doing really well is he’s easy to play with,” said Snyder of Kuminga. “You can tell that he’s internalized that. I’ve talked to him about trying to be more aggressive in transition in particular. He’s locked in defensively, and he’s capable of making some plays for us offensively with a couple of timely buckets that he’s able to get.”
While Kuminga led the bench scoring effort, it was McCollum who led the Hawks in scoring with 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, 4-of-7 from three, and 5-of-6 from the free throw line to go along with seven assists. It was a diet of the usual blend of inside and outside scoring for McCollum, whose life was not made difficult by the Nets’ defense. His four three-pointers tied Alexander-Walker’s four threes for most in this game as the Hawks hit 20 threes, shooting 51% from behind the arc. This was another element where the Hawks really distanced themselves from the Nets, who only hit 12 threes, outscoring Brooklyn 60-36 in that regard.
McCollum also led the Hawks in assists, registering seven assists on the game as the Hawks received contributions from across the board moving the ball, tallying 36 assists for the game. Snyder discussed how the Hawks have become as connected as they have despite this current Atlanta group assembled mid-season.
“I think the fact that our group is connected the way they have in a short period of time really speaks to those guys in the locker room,” said Snyder postgame. “I think there’s been a foundation that we felt like we’ve tried to lay and been consistent with some of those things. They’ve embraced one another as much as anything. As we’ve talked about it a lot, the roles are going to evolve, you’re going to have different things that are available to you at different times. As long as we stay connected and play with the pass, good things can happen. When you get a group that feels that way and wants to play that way and is able to put the team in front of themselves individually, I think it’s a rare thing. Not just in the NBA, but just in general.”
The Hawks now lead the NBA in assists per game with over 30 assists per game, and it’s accomplished by committee. The Hawks’ leading assist-man on the season, Jalen Johnson, had an understated by effective game, scoring 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with 11 assists and five assists. Particularly in the first half, Johnson’s outlet passing was fantastic, and while he wasn’t credited with the assist on some of these outlets (following an extra pass) Johnson was a great connector in transition where the Hawks excelled last night.
All in all, the Hawks took care of business, but the Nets kept them honest for three quarters before Atlanta finally pulled away behind a 43-22 fourth quarter, allowing for the Hawks to clear their bench with four minutes to spare. Looking across the league, no changes occurred in the Eastern Conference around the Hawks — Toronto picked up a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers (currently in the 6-seed) have a daunting matchup in San Antonio on Saturday night, who have won 11 straight games.
Next up for the Hawks (45-33) is, by no means, an easy matchup as the New York Knicks (50-28) will arrive in Atlanta ahead of a Monday night matchup. Should be a rowdy atmosphere as always, and an important game for the Hawks as they continue to chase an automatic playoff berth.
Until next time!
