The Atlanta Hawks returned to winning ways — and an 11th consecutive victory at home — with a lopsided 146-107 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night at State Farm Arena.
The Hawks — without Jalen Johnson — were led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s 28 points, while Onyeka Okongwu and Jonathan Kuminga both added 16 points. For the Grizzlies — who are injury hit/running for the lottery — GG Jackson scored 26 points with Tyler Burton adding 20 points.
We’re at a point in the season where teams
who are gunning for the playoffs, jostling for playoff seeding, meet teams whose have a very different objective at this time of the year — and there’s more teams than usual who fit this criteria this season. As a result, some games are more so formalities than contests; box-ticking exercises.
In this case: did the Memphis Grizzlies show up to the game? Yes, yes they did. They took a 5-0 lead, hung around in the first quarter (trailing by just 10 points to end the first quarter), and that was their general team contribution to this game.
The Hawks — who by no means played a sexy first quarter (eight turnovers, forcing passes that were a bit too far out of reach) — were extremely comfortable in this game, and while this game was never really a contest (leading by double digits in the first quarter, running the lead to 26 points in the second quarter, 30 points — and quickly 40+ points — in the third quarter) the Hawks remained professional throughout, and their first quarter play was a microcosm for how the rest of the game essentially unfolded, so we’ll look at some of the plays from last night.
From the outset, the Hawks’ ball movement was excellent, this three-pointer finished by CJ McCollum one such example of the Hawks’ willingness to pass, move, relocate, and find the open man:
Even when the Hawks were absolutely blowing the Grizzlies out in the third quarter, they still committed to this style of play when the ball moved around to find Gabe Vincent for a three-pointer with 1:41 remaining.
The Hawks tallied 37 assists and would only register three more turnovers for the remainder of the game following their eight turnovers in the first quarter.
“That’s the possession game,” said Hawks head coach Quin Snyder of cleaning up the turnovers. “The fact that we did that to be able to clean that up against a team that was denying passes and trying to extend pressure up the floor. I thought our guys settled into that and were much more secure with the ball, and that takes more than just one player. You’ve gotta work to get open, sometimes you’ve got to ball fake, you got to be spaced if someone needs help. It was good to see.”
Alexander-Walker scored 13 points in the first, and with Memphis’ lack of size inside the paint Alexander-Walker was able to consistently get to the rim and finish.
The Grizzlies did their share to help the Hawks at times, and a breakdown on the switch with Taylor Hendricks allows Alexander-Walker to turn the corner, attack the paint where he takes the bump, adjusts, and finishes for the ‘and-1’ play:
Coming off the curl from the corner and off the dribble hand-off from Jock Landale, Alexander-Walker is able to burst into the paint where he is uncontested for the dunk:
And, of course, the pick of the bunch. Kuminga intercepts the pass, does well to twist and turn to get the ball to the streaking Alexander-Walker, who charges to the rim and finishes the left-handed poster dunk, plus the foul:
“From when I got the ball, I could see the defender was timing me,” said Alexander-Walker of the play. “So, I knew I had to go aggressively. If I tried to lay it up, I think like the more aggressive guy wins in that situation. For me, it was just like, ‘All right, let’s just go for it,‘ mentality. I wanted to battle that one. I was just surprised. It’s funny because the guys get on me to dunk all the time. I tell them, like, ‘That’s just not what I like to do,’ you know. For me to go get one in that fashion was pretty funny.”
This play — and the Kuminga three the possession prior to this — were a big swing to end the first quarter as the Hawks had allowed Memphis to creep back towards them after a sloppy first quarter. With these two plays, the Hawks never really looked back.
Memphis did their best to help the Hawks with their turnovers and shot selection, such as this turnover where DeJon Jarreau loses the handle for the turnover:
On the drive, Walton Clayton Jr. attempts to throw a lob for Hendricks, only for Hendricks to have already fanned out to the corner, resulting in a turnover:
Memphis’ shot selection, however, was their greater issue. The early recipe to try attain a foothold in this game was Ty Jerome, and from the early exchanges this did yield success.
Jerome is well defended on the drive by Dyson Daniels, and forces him to take a turnaround jumpshot, which is short:
On the switch, Jerome looks to take McCollum, and rises into a three-pointer which is contested and results in an airball:
In transition, the Grizzlies find Clayton Jr. in the corner, but with 18 seconds remaining on the shotclock there’s likely a better shot than a fading three-point attempt in the corner:
The Hawks did their part to limit the Grizzlies, too, with some good Alexander-Walker defense preventing Clayton Jr. fro getting to the rim, and forcing a tough turnaround airball:
On the drive from above the break, Zaccharie Risacher initially loses ground on the drive before recovering to block the shot at the rim:
The Grizzlies would take many jumpshots in this game, indicative of both the Grizzlies’ lack of quality to create offense and the Hawks’ ability to limit penetration (and defend the rim when the Grizzlies got there) and keep Memphis in front of them.
Looking at some other team stats, the Hawks scored a whopping 39 points off of 23 Memphis turnovers, which also contributed to 26 fastbreak points. Nickeil Alexander-Walker pointed to the team’s defense in contributing to the Hawks’ fastbreak scoring, crediting Mo Gueye for his contributions (starting in place of Jalen Johnson).
“Just defense, active gaps,” said Alexander-Walker postgame of the fastbreak scoring. “Mo Gueye has been tremendous in terms of bringing activity for us, deflections. If you notice, he always racks them up whenever he’s playing. I think that’s just been big for us, what he has been able to do defensively. Dyson’s going to be him, he’s going to be disruptive, challenging passing lanes for everybody. I think it was a collective unit; we felt like we were on a string with rotations, with shifts, cycles, etc.”
The Hawks enjoyed a rare advantage on the offensive glass, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds leading to 19 second chance points; an efficient conversion. Efficient would be a good adjective to describe the Hawks in this game: 53% shooting from the field, 46% from three (making 25 in total), and shooting 23-of-25 from the free throw line.
The Hawks took care of business, which was the theme of the night in the postgame availability.
“I think it’s a collective thing where guys are just putting the team first,” said Snyder when asked about the maturity of his side taking care of business.“ When you say that, the things that those guys are doing right now demonstrate that. That’s got to be our focus, and when it is we’re crashing the offensive glass, we’re sharing the ball, getting in the lane, breaking the paint, and then sharing the ball. The focus on the defense is the most important thing when you see everybody bought into that, that says a lot about the guys in our locker room. Their maturity, but also just their focus. Whether you’re 22 or 32.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, as ever, summed up the matter very eloquently, saying the Hawks were very much aware of who they are playing, and who they should beat.
“I think as a group, we’ve been professional and that’s what it’s about, doing your job,” said Alexander-Walker. “It doesn’t matter who they put out in front of you. We were very conscious of who we were playing against tonight. We’ve seen the Boston game, we’ve seen the Denver game, and those are teams playing their full roster. Those are teams trying to get wins for seeding in the playoffs. Those guys, they’re winning games. One thing I learned is that if you lose to a team like that, it’s bad. If you beat a team like that, ‘Oh, you’re supposed to blah, blah, blah, blah’. You don’t really win in that situation. So, you kind of got to drown out the noise. You just got to be professional. It’s my job to play the game, it’s my job to play hard, it’s my job to try to win and do what I need to do for the team. Everyone showed up tonight to do that, and I think that’s been the one consistent thing that’s shown over time.”
“At the end of the day, these are the 450 best players in the world,” added Onyeka Okongwu. “Those guys over there, the Grizzlies, are dealing with a lot of injuries, a lot of guys in and out of the lineups. Those guys are just getting opportunities; you see guys like Prosper and Hendricks, they’re all just playing so hard and giving their all. Still got to respect it, but we still do what we do and take care of business at the end of the day.”
Aside from taking care of business, Snyder was pleased with the Hawks’ ball movement, crediting CJ McCollum’s contributions in the first quarter in setting the standard early, then Alexander-Walker’s efforts in the third quarter.
“It’s terrific. I thought CJ set the tone early, where he was just in the lane, had his eyes out finding people,” said Snyder of the Hawks’ unselfishness. “Then, Nickeil had a stretch, beginning the third quarter, where those guys playing that way, it raises everybody’s level, it sets a tone. It wasn’t just the two of them but, to me, they stood out because they’re both capable scorers and they get in there too. For them to be looking for their teammates, and they do. but it was noticeable tonight in those two situations, I thought, in a very obvious way. We were obviously unselfish, which I like to be able to say that.”
The nature of this game meant there was a lot of garbage time in the fourth quarter, and every player who checked into the game scored for the Hawks, including eight players in double-digit scoring. Alexander-Walker led the way with 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, and 4-of-6 from three, scoring 22 points in the first half. Jonathan Kuminga enjoyed a stronger game, also hitting four threes en route to 16 points off the bench, while Okongwu was an ever-present threat inside the paint on both ends of the floor.
Perhaps the most encouraging takeaway was a second consecutive game where Dyson Daniels hit multiple three-pointers in a game, shooting 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
“He’s done that before,” said Syder of Daniels’ shooting. “If you look, maybe not as much this year, but that’s who he is, and we don’t want him to not be aggressive in any situation. His aggressiveness offensively can manifest itself a lot of ways, just being prepared to shoot. I’ve talked to you guys before about just space, and then read, and if he’s got the shot, take the shot. He’s pretty good getting in the paint, too.”
As Snyder said, this is not new for Daniels overall — and those threes he took and hit last night looked like the threes he made last season — but for this season, it is an enormous boost. In 10 games in March so far, Daniels is shooting 31% from three; obviously not a high percentage but in the context of Daniels’ season it’s an enormous step forward.
All-in-all, a very professional game from the Atlanta Hawks, who won with ease in a spot where victory was expected. What was most impressive was the how the Hawks didn’t ease off the throttle in the third quarter, playing in a similar manner than in the first quarter with their ball and man movement when they could have easily began to ease up and play in a carefree manner. It speaks to a focus and a recognition of the seriousness of where the Hawks are in their season, now with a clear opportunity to make the top-6 in the East.
It was a very good night in that regard; Orlando inexplicably broke the Pacers’ 16 game losing streak, while Miami and Philadelphia suffered heavy home losses against the top two in the West. The Hawks need as much margin as they can get, as they have the fourth most difficult schedule remaining in the NBA.
The Hawks (40-32) are back in action on Wednesday, when they’ll take on the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.
The Pistons will be without Cade Cunningham, and while it’s a great time to play the Pistons in that sense, they should not be underestimated having just snapped the Lakers’ nine game winning streak without Cunningham.
Until next time!
