The Atlanta Hawks took care of business on Friday night, beating the Memphis Grizzlies 122-116 in their second preseason outing of the season.
The Hawks were without Nickeil Alexander-Walker in this one, who missed out due to personal reasons, but apart from that fielded a healthy side. For the second consecutive game, Quin Snyder rolled with a starting lineup of Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson and Kristaps Porzingis.
Meanwhile, Memphis were missing many of their key players
(including Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.) and trotted out a starting five of Ty Jerome, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jaylen Wells, Santi Aldama and Jock Landale.
Unlike their first preseason game, Atlanta played their top nine through the first three quarters of this one (with Vit Krejci stepping in for the absent Alexander-Walker), and they held a comfortable lead through the first three periods before emptying their bench at the start of the 4th quarter. While it was a rough shooting night for the Hawks (who finished just 9-for-31 from three), they were still able to generate a lot of high quality looks on the offensive end, scoring 68 points in the paint and getting to the stripe for 30 free-throw attempts. Atlanta posted a 114 offensive rating on the night and tallied assists on 31 of their 44 buckets.
Jalen Johnson led all scorers with 20 points and also chipped in 7 boards. Trae Young shot just 1-for-8 from the floor, but finished with 11 points and 8 assists in 25 minutes. Kristaps Porzingis added 13 points.
Slowly but surely, this team is gaining momentum ahead of the regular season opener on October 22nd.
Here are a few things that caught my eye from Atlanta’s second preseason game.
Strong showing from Zaccharie Risacher
After a relatively quiet preseason debut against Houston earlier this week, last year’s no. 1 overall pick turned in a strong performance against Memphis, scoring 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting (2-for-3 from deep) in 25 minutes of playing time.
Risacher benefitted from some good ball movement for his first two buckets, both corner triples that came in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, he connected with Kristaps Porzingis on a nice backdoor cut to the rim (leaving Ty Jerome in no man’s land).
Then, to cap off his night, Risacher showed off the ‘bunnies’ with a couple of pretty transition throw-downs.
After averaging 14.9 points while posting a 61.6% effective field goal percentage (42.1% from three on 5.1 attempts per game) over the final 35 games of his rookie season, followed up by an impressive showing at Eurobasket over the summer, all signs point to Risacher making a leap in his sophomore season. Performances like last night’s will help him earn the trust of the coaching staff.
Jalen Johnson continues to impress
Johnson’s second game since returning from the season-ending shoulder injury he suffered last January looked a lot like his first one: pretty dang good. In 24 minutes of action, he racked up 20 points (on 7-for-11 shooting, 6-for-6 at the free throw line), seven boards, two assists and two steals, and he genuinely looked like a player whose name we might be seeing on All-Star ballots come February.
There are no easy answers once Johnson gets going downhill. Here, he patiently picks his way through the defense for a transition lay-in.
On this play in the second quarter, he bullies rookie forward Cedric Coward out of the way before finishing at the basket.
After the halftime break, he blows by GG Jackson and knifes his way to the hoop for an easy score.
Last season, Hawks lineups with both Trae Young and Jalen Johnson on the floor played at the second-fastest pace of any two-man duo* in the NBA, and given Johnson’s ability to impact the game in the open floor, it’s clear that this playstyle fits his game like a glove.
*min. 900 minutes played, only the Bulls with Colby White and Patrick Williams played faster
As evidenced above, Johnson can certainly put pressure on defenses as a scorer, but what makes him even more special is his high level passing ability.
On the play below in the third quarter, he connects with Kristaps Porzingis for an alley-oop out of the short roll.
A few possessions later he works his way into the paint, then whips a one-handed pass to Okongwu for a corner three.
Johnson certainly made his impact felt on the offensive end last night, but head coach Quin Snyder was also pleased with how he carried out his defensive duties which he highlighted in his postgame press conference:
“One of the things I was really pleased with tonight with Jalen is how hard he’s working defensively. That’s something I know he’s taken a lot of pride in. He said a couple times, ‘I gotta do a better job rebounding’, I told him ‘we all do’, and he said ‘no, I do’, so it’s good to see him focused on defending as well.”
It’s been a delight to watch Johnson thus far in preseason, and he appears to be ready to hit the ground running once the regular season tips off.
Porzingis makes life easier for everyone
After scoring just five points and being held without a rebound in his Hawks debut, Kristaps Porzingis made his presence felt last night, scoring 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting (2-for-3 from three), grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out two assists in his 24 minutes of action.
Yet, while the box score tells one story, it’s also important to point out how his presence on the court, and the threat he poses from beyond the arc, help Atlanta’s offense run smoothly.
On this play in the second quarter, the Hawks are running a lineup with both Okongwu and Porzingis in the frontcourt. Porzingis sets a screen for Kennard, then lurks by the three-point line. Once Kennard beats his man coming around the screen, the defender guarding Porzingis is put into a bind. Should he help on the drive, or stay with Porzingis beyond the three-point line? Ultimately, no help arrives, leaving an open lane for Kennard to attack, and he finds Okongwu for an easy score.
A few possessions later, Okongwu’s defender gets cross-matched onto Keaton Wallace. Porzingis realizes, points it out, and with both Memphis bigs pulled out beyond the break, it’s a warmup shot for Okongwu at the basket.
Porzingis is going to put up numbers this season. He’s averaged 20 points and eight rebounds per game for his career (nine seasons). But even when he isn’t filling up the stat sheet, he still has a positive impact on the game, and it’s going to be a lot of fun watching the Hawks hit their offensive ceiling with Porzingis out on the floor, posing another threat for defenses to consider.
Another tidy Keaton Wallace game
Since Keaton Wallace cracked Quin Snyder’s first half rotation for the second straight game last night, is there a chance he plays real minutes on opening night? While I still wouldn’t say it’s likely, the answer is closer to a ‘yes’ than it was last week.
Wallace scored six points and dished out seven assists with no turnovers in 18 minutes of action against Memphis, and the 26-year-old appears to be at the front of the line for minutes at the ‘1’ should anything happen to Trae Young during the regular season.
Wallace spent the majority of last season on a two-way contract with Atlanta, averaging 5.4 points and 2.6 assists per game in 31 appearances*. Because he’s on a two-way deal again this season, he can only play in 41 games for the Hawks unless they sign him to a full-time roster spot, which makes it hard to see him emerging as a regular in the rotation this season.
*Including a 15 point, 15 assist, 11 rebound triple-double on the final day of the regular season.
Still, his play through the first two games of preseason has been encouraging, and I’m curious to see what type of role he’ll fill for the Hawks once the season begins.
