The Atlanta Hawks were in Charlotte on Friday evening to face the Hornets. Both teams are coming off wins in their season opener, with the Hawks defeating the Orlando Magic and the Hornets defeating the Brooklyn Nets.
The Hawks and Hornets had a few battles last season, but the latter has made several changes to its roster since then. Outside of those moves, they actually have injuries to some key players, such as Kon Knuppel and Coby White. As for the Hawks, they’re fully healthy outside of Mouhamed
Gueye, who’s still recovering from his injury in the offseason.
Onyeka Okongwu was able to get the Hawks on the board with his first 3-pointer of the season.
Dyson Daniels found Jalen Johnson on the cut for him to finish with the and-1.
CJ McCollum got off to a fast start for the Hawks, scoring 11 points in the first quarter with a few 3-pointers. The Hawks were active on defense as well, leading to steals and deflections, and it worked in their favor as they built a double digit lead.
Lu Dort was the first player off the bench for the Hawks, and he came in knocked down a 3-pointer.
The Hawks’ second unit was able to maintain the lead strictly off their defense, but they were able to get some easy shots, like this one from Aaron Wiggins.
Going into the second quarter, the Hawks led 29-18.
It was the Wiggins show through the first half of the quarter, and whether it was a shot from deep or an easy layup, he got any shot he wanted.
The Hawks found themselves up by as much as 21 points in the quarter. The Hawks’ second-unit defense was also strong through that stretch, which helped them gain a bigger lead.
It wasn’t just the second unit that was doing work on that side of the ball, but even the starters kept that same level of intensity.
The Hornets made a small run to cut down their deficit, but the Hawks responded in a huge way, which led to them going into halftime with a 68-43 lead.
The Hawks continued their strong defense to start the second half, and it was Daniels who made life hard for the Hornets. He had four steals in the third, and it felt like the Hornets were just willingly giving him the ball. He wasn’t just making an impact on defense either.
The Hawks’ ball movement was strong all night, and Jock Landale found Johnson on this cut.
Just when you thought the Hawks played their best defense in the first and second quarters, they held the Hornets to just 19 points in the third and went into the fourth with a 97-62 lead.
The Hawks kept the pressure on the Hornets in the fourth, and the Hornets didn’t have an answer. With how lopsided the score was, the Hawks were able to put in their end of the bench guys around the seven-minute mark, giving the main guys a much-needed rest with a back-to-back tomorrow.
Flemings made his first-career 3-pointer in the quarter.
Johnson finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists; Wiggins finished with 19 points, Daniels finished with 11 points, nine rebounds; and Nickeil Alexander-Walker finished with 14 points.
The Hawks will be back in action tomorrow night against the Houston Rockets.
