The Hawks came out hot in Brooklyn — and as they should against a very inexperienced Nets squad. Within five minutes, it was 16-4 good guys, and it didn’t look like the home team could put up any fight.
Atlanta was basically a hot knife to the soft butter of Brooklyn. They diced up the defense with great ball movement like this:
Dyson Daniels continued his hot shooting from beyond the arc, with this make taking him to 8-for-16 in his last 16 attempts:
At the halfway point of the first quarter, the lead was now 22-8 and the Hawks didn’t look as though they’d slow down.
And the rain of fire continued throughout the quarter save for a last-minute flurry from the Nets. The team lost their focus, and they let a 35-17 edge dwindle to 35-25 after one quarter.
Spanning the two quarters, the Hawks ceded a 14-0 run, and they had no one but themselves to blame. Poor execution on offense and a handful of ugly turnovers turned a blowout back into a competitive game.
The Hawks eventually got it together and proved they’re the better team in this matchup. Plays like this from Daniels helped stem the tide:
At that point, the Hawk maintained a roughly 10-point lead for a while as the Nets continued to hang in the game with transition points and downhill slashing.
The Hawks opened the game back up with a flurry of turnovers forced from the starting unit. Dyson Daniels, alone, had four steals, and those became fast break points more often than not.
He’s still the Great Barrier Thief:
At half, the Hawks led 71-55.
That big lead was short-lived, however as Brooklyn rattled off a 6-0 run to begin the half. But the starters pushed back and restored order.
The bench bobbled a bit once again, but Jonathan Kuminga made sure to stabilize the unit:
After three quarters, the Hawks led 95-82.
A made three to begin the next quarter made it 15-for-30 shooting from three for the Hawks tonight. And the Hawks basically ended the game at the three-point lead within the first four minutes of the quarters, with Corey Kispert in particular swishing the nets (pun intended) at will:
It was a drama-less end to the game, with the Hawks waiving the white flag with around five minutes left. Asa even Newell saw his first NBA action in almost two months in the blowout.
The Hawks won 141-107 in a game that ended up being fairly close for over three quarters.
CJ McCollum had 25 points on an efficient 8-for-12 shooting. Jalen Johnson added 18 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
Atlanta returns home to take on the 3-seed New York Knicks on Monday.
