The Atlanta Hawks were in Brooklyn on Wednesday evening to face the Nets. The Hawks are coming off a wire-to-wire loss on Monday against the Chicago Bulls, and were looking to get back in the win column.
For the Nets, they were still looking for their first win of the season.
It was a very slow start for the Hawks, as they found themselves in a 12-0 deficit in the first quarter. Jalen Johnson broke the ice for the Hawks, and the flood started on offense.
The Hawks started 0-for-6 from the field, and the Hawks then they made their next six shots in a row to cut their deficit down to just one point. Trae Young was a part of the offensive surge, and got his own and-one to go in the process.
The Hawks were able to grab the lead after Johson found Onyeka Okongwu for an easy layup in the paint.
From there, the Hawks continued to pile on the points, and Young got Luke Kennard an easy 3-pointer with a behind-the-back pass.
Later in the quarter, Hawks fans probably held their breath when Mouhamed Gueye was pushed on an out-of-bounds play, running into Trae Young’s knee. Young stayed on the floor for some time, but got up on his own. On the next play, Young did a sprint down the court, but he looked to be in pain and ended up going to the locker room.
Without Young, the Hawks were still able to generate some offense and finished the quarter with a 34-27 lead. To start the quarter, the Hawks ruled out Young for the remainder of the game with a right knee sprain. That meant the Hawks would have to generate offense without their engine, but they were still able to score at ease.
Kennard continued to light it up in the second quarter, scoring eight early points. Everyone else joined suit, including Johnson, who got another and-one to go in the first half.
The Hawks led by as much as 17 points in the first half, and went into halftime with a 64-51 lead. Third quarters have been rough for the Hawks this season, and the trend looked to continue as Michael Porter Jr. got hot and cut down the Nets’ deficit to single digits.
Dyson Daniels made life hard for Cam Thomas, and got this steal which turned into easy points for the Hawks.
The Nets were able to stick around because of Porter’s hot shooting, but when that flame died out, the Hawks took advantage. Keaton Wallace benefited from good ball movement and got a 3-pointer.
Mouhamed Gueye had some nice sequences down the stretch of the third, getting a one-handed dunk in transition and then knocking down a 3-pointer in front of the Nets’ bench. Of course he let them hear about it afterwards.
Kennard kept his hot shooting going in the game.
Going into the fourth, the Hawks led 94-83. Wallace found Kristaps Porzingis for a 3-pointer early in the quarter.
While Porzingis had knocked down a fair share this season, Johnson knocked down his first one of the season in the fourth.
At the same time, why settle for 3-pointers when you can just dunk on people?
Though the Hawks were rolling on offense, the Nets were still able to stick around. That didn’t stop the Hawks from continuing to score, and Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker traded buckets to keep them in the lead.
The Nets made it game late in the fourth, and cut their deficit to three points. The Nets had a chance to tie or cut their deficit down to one point, but they missed the attempt, and the Hawks went to the free throw to extend their lead to five points.
The Nets missed another opportunity to score, and the Hawks were able to walk away with the win.
Johnson finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, Nickeil Alexander-Walker finished with 18 points, Kennard finished with 17 points, and Okongwu finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Hawks will be back in action on Friday against the Indiana Pacers.
