The Atlanta Hawks cruised to a comfortable 122-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night at State Farm Arena. Mo Gueye led the Hawks in scoring with a career-high 21 points to go with seven
rebounds, and a career-high seven assists. Dyson Daniels added 10 points and a career-high 13 assists. For the Lakers, Luka Doncic scored 22 points, and Dalton Knecht added 14 points.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Hawks’ active roster looked very different to Friday’s lineup against Toronto. Trae Young remains out, but was joined on the injury/absent list by Jalen Johnson (right quad contusion), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (low back strain), Kristaps Porzingis (illness management), and Luke Kennard (illness) all missing out.
That led to a starting lineup of Keaton Wallace, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Mo Gueye, and Onyeaka Okongwu, comprising five of 10 available bodies for the Hawks last night. For the Lakers, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, and Gabe Vincent were absent for the visitors.
The Hawks, undermanned as they were, did not play like an undermanned squad as they ran out to a double-digit lead in the opening quarter behind a strong first quarter from Gueye (11 points) and Vit Krejci (nine points) with the Lakers offering little resistance; a theme that would continue for most of the night. Behind a strong first half from Doncic (scoring all 22 of his points in the first half), the Lakers briefly got themselves back within single digits before the end of the first quarter before the Hawks opened it out double-digits in the second quarter.
The Lakers would bring the margin back under 10 points once for the remainder of the contest, as a complete team effort from the Hawks gradually edged them further away — seven of the Hawks’ eight main rotation players scored in double-figures with the final member, Caleb Houstan, adding eight points.
The Hawks soared in the third quarter, as the Lakers briefly brought the lead under 10 points, before a surge from the hosts saw them open the lead to 10, 15, 20, and even as high as 28 points in the third quarter. The Lakers quickly conceded the game was lost, and Doncic was not re-entered into the game after this run, as the Hawks would go on to extend their lead to 30 points in the fourth before eventually winning by 20 to move to 5-5 on the season.
Postgame, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder praised his team for being unconcerned with individual success but instead with the collective effort, singling out Dyson Daniels’ role in that behind a career-high 13 assists.
“They committed to each other, trusted each other,” said Snyder of getting into the offensive rhythm early in the game. “No one was concerned about what their game looked like, we were just collectively playing together. Give Dyson a lot of credit, I thought he was the catalyst for a lot of that. His decision-making when he got in the paint … when you see a group of guys play truly play like a team, you’re not always going to be successful doing that but that’s the pathway for our team.”
The Hawks are already without the playmaking of Young, throwing in Johnson’s and Alexander-Walker’s absences should only have served to exacerbate the Hawks’ lack of ball-handling on the night, but Daniels shone as the primary ball-handler/creator alongside Keaton Wallace. Let’s look at how Daniels’ helped initiate plays for a team that scored 122 points on 51.6% shooting from the field.
On the drive from the corner, Daniels gets inside and finds Gueye on the weakside corner for a three-pointer:
Even if Rui Hachimura had rotated to Gueye in the corner, Wallace had a good position for a screen estabished to provide the space to Gueye.
This play was an interesting one as Daniels and Risacher almost get crossed up, Jake Laravia ends up behind the play, and Deandre Ayton can’t roll with Okongwu, forcing Doncic to have to leave Krejci on the wing. Daniels sprays the ball out to Krejci, who hits the three:
Daniels’ overall awareness of where his teammates were on the court was excellent last night, finding Wallace open on the perimeter for three:
After a poke-away from Okongwu to create the turnover, Daniels demonstrates patience in transition, getting himself into the paint before kicking the ball out to find Wallace for another three:
On this drive, Daniels gets to his spin move before finding Asa Newell in the corner for a three-pointer:
Overall, Daniels was excellent at getting into the paint and getting a pass out to create many opportunities behind the arc, the Hawks finishing with 16-of-39 from three.
“I think just trying to get two feet in the paint and find my teammates,” said Daniels of how his passing has developed. “A big empahsis for us before the game was to have eyes out and shoot the ball. Got my eyes out and everyone really stepped up today. I just tried to be aggressive and get in the paint and find your teammates.”
Daniels finished with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field to go with those 13 assists and eight rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Both he and Wallace (who registered seven assists) did a great job of handling the ball and offense for the team in the absence of Young, Johnson, and Alexander-Walker.
Snyder credited Wallace with his steadiness handling the ball but, also, his ability to defend, which Snyder said was the primary reason Wallace is in the game.
“Keaton is playing because he’s plays defense,” said Snyder of Wallace. “He’s actually had an offensive game, you’re seeing more of it. Particularly, he’s hit some big shots late-clock because he’s confident in that. I think the biggest thing for him has been understanding what our team needs, and our team has needed his steadiness handling the ball and the defense. If we’re playing the way I think is the best way for us to play where the ball isn’t moving, his offense comes as part of that. He’s got the ability to get a shot and to get at the rim and get an advantage.”
Wallace scored 14 points on 5-of-15 from the field and 4-of-8 from three to go with seven assists with just one turnover.
Perhaps the star of the show last night outside of Daniels was Mo Gueye: 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, 4-of-5 from three, seven rebounds, and seven assists in 34 minutes, including the stretch scoring 11 points in the first quarter.
“I think I’m always confident,” said Gueye of his quick start. “Tonight obviously missing Jalen and KP, I needed to be extra aggressive, I think that’s what I did. Just do what we do: run, pace, and our offense is based on running. I’m pretty good at running so I just ran the floor, and they found me wide-open.”
Gueye’s scoring is becoming more and more rounded when given the opportunity, and last night was a good showcase of this. For his first points of the game, he steps into this floater over Ayton:
Doing what he does best, Gueye runs the floor in transition after playing his part to help create a turnover, and he’s found at pace where he’s able to finish at the rim, plus the foul:
Shooting the three-ball, Gueye was confident, and he shoots this corner three with confidence after a great find with the bounce-pass from Wallace (to highlight his impact on the game):
It was this next play from three which was arguably most encouraging from last night. Doncic and Ayton get tangled up running into each other, and Gueye picks up the loose ball, promptly offloading it to Daniels. Initially heading towards the paint, Gueye reads the land in front of him and back up to the three-point line instead, where Daniels finds him for an above the break three:
This last play might be the best of the lot; Gueye receives the cross-court pass from Wallace, and takes the ball in his stride and drives smoothly to the rim, where he delivers an even smoother reverse layup finish:
A fantastic play from start to finish there. It’s one thing to see Gueye run in transition without the ball, but to see him do this with the ball off the dribble, and to produce that finish? It was unimaginable a year ago to conceive the thought of Gueye producing fluidity of movement with the ball and the finish.
Postgame, Snyder was asked about Gueye’s development over the last 12 months, and credited the work put in by Gueye and how the game has slowed for him, allowing him to better adjust to the NBA.
“The work he has put in before practise— he’s one of a number of guys who basically go a through a pre-practise with a group of our coaches that have put a group of players together and they just work,” said Snyder when asked of Gueye’s developent over the last year. “They work on the right things, they work on playing together. I think he’s become more and more instinctive. You can tell he’s more settled in, the game’s moving slower offensively. Defensively he’s just unique with some of the versatility he has. I don’t think it’s magic. He’s been hungry, he wants to get better and he’s been putting the time in. Games like tonight he gets even more opportunity to do that on the floor. With Jalen and Onyeka and KP, we’re trying to find as many minutes for Mo as we can and he’s deserving of that.”
“Mo has been huge for us all year,” added Dyson Daniels of Gueye. “For him to come in and do his role, a guy who is super versatile on the defensive end — can switch one through five — he’s been shooting the ball really well. He’s a really talented player and his ceiling is something no one can really predict and I’m excited to see where he can get to.”
Gueye also produced a block and two steals, combining with Okongwu (three steals) and Newell (four steals) to lead to 13 Atlanta steals last night.
“We can always point to the job Dyson does on the ball but I thought Onyeka, Mo, those guys in different coverages were in the right place and were executing and that’s against probably the best pick-and-roll player in the league other than the guy we got on our team,” said Snyder of the Hawks’ 13 steals.
Gueye’s seven assists were also of note, a career-high — some of these were impressive to see.
On the drive from the corner, Gueye finds Newell with the bounce-pass for the assist, as Newell does well to finish at the rim:
On the move, Gueye is found as he arrives into the paint, and he feels the defense at his back and spots the open Risacher for three, and finds him for the assist:
Next, some great ball movement from the Hawks starting with Daniels collapsing the defense and finding Okongwu in the corner, who swings the ball to Wallace, who swings it to Gueye. Gueye then drives from the perimeter, draws Marcus Smart away from Risacher, and Gueye kicks it out to Risacher for an assist on another three:
Finally, Gueye brings the ball up the floor himself before finding Newell in the corner, who hits another three-pointer:
“I think I was always able to do it but obviously when you have Trae Young on your time you don’t need Mo Gueye to push the ball,” said Gueye when asked of his passing. “I think with Trae being out, Jalen being out, me having to step up, just be a hooper, be a basketball player.”
Speaking of Newell, with Porzingis and Johnson sidelined it gave the rookie the opportunity for an extended run, which is what he got and took advantage of: 17 points on 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-5 from three to go with seven rebounds and four steals in just under 27 minutes.
Coach Snyder was asked about Newell postgame, and discussed how both Newell and Gueye have been filled with confidence to continue shooting and contributing to the team.
“He’s another guy that’s putting time in and believes in the things he can do on the court to help our team be successful,” said Snyder of Newell. “Both of those guys (Gueye and Newell) have just thrown themselves into the group. In both Asa and Mo, since the summer, the only voice they’ve heard talking about whether they should shoot the ball in the corner has been ‘Take that shot.’ It’s good to know they have the confidence to do that and we have the confidence in them, and their teammates do as well. Asa’s activity is unique; he finds a way to get into plays. Happy to see him do that, he impacts the game. Both of those guys, we’re not running plays for; they’re just playing basketball.”
“I’m a gym rat,” added Newell. “I always stay in the gym, always put in the extra work and it showed tonight. It’s the next-man up and I had an opportunity. It feels great that my teammates and coaching staff has confidence in me.”
With the nature of the Hawks’ rotation when healthy, even with performances like this, Newell just isn’t going to get regular minutes — heck, Mo Gueye isn’t going to get as many minutes as he probably should when Johnson, Porzingis, and Okongwu are all healthy — but Newell is making the most of the opportunity when he gets it. There will come a time where the Hawks are in a position to offer him more — Johnson himself had to go through not playing many minutes during his rookie season. It’s just something that happens at times, but Newell — when he’s been called upon — has delivered for the Hawks with his energy and his production, and that continued last night again.
From the Lakers’ side of things, it was just poor; a sentiment that Lakers head coach JJ Redick made abundantly clear in his postgame availability — all one minute and thirty seconds of it.
When asked when Redick realized it might be ‘one of those nights’ for his starting unit, he replied, “I realized that in the first two minutes of the game.” When asked what he saw in those first two minutes, Redick bluntly replied, “Nothing.” He was clearly very unhappy with the effort of his players, saying the Hawks had brought “The requisite level…” that was required — a not-so-subtle way to call out his own team for the energy that they did not bring. Doncic was great in the first half, scoring 22 points, but no one around him contributed meaningfully — Ayton in particular was poor.
The Hawks, conversely, executed very well despite all their absences. Yes, the Lakers themselves made it easier at times, but the visitors were still considered favorites heading into the game and the Hawks played well from minute one. They broke the Lakers’ defense down time and time again, and hit on the many threes they created from drives, led by Daniels and Wallace. 37 assists on 48 made baskets is a fantastic night’s work, no matter what the defense gives you, and it spoke — as Snyder mentioned — to a completely team-first performance where no player was concerned with ‘getting their own’ shot/offense. As Snyder also alluded to, that doesn’t always translate to wins (and you need players who want to get after it themselves) but it was more than enough to defeat a Lakers team that has impressed this season without a combination of Doncic and LeBron at times.
But the Hawks certainly won’t care about the perspective of the Lakers as Atlanta has injuries of their own, and home wins have not been easy to come by so far this season. This was certainly a good one to have in their favor, and good from the perspective that the Hawks (5-5) now head onto a four-game Western Conference road-trip, beginning with the Los Angeles Clippers (3-6), then on to Sacramento, Utah as the second night of a back-to-back, and Phoenix.
Not the easiest of trips, but certainly not as daunting as it could be.
Until next time!
