The Hawks gave themselves the gift of a victory for the holidays behind a strong final frame.
The Atlanta Hawks gave themselves and their fans an early Christmas present in the form of a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at State Farm Arena on Monday night, 117-104.
Trae Young returned to the starting lineup after a one-game absence and led the way with 29 points. Garrison Mathews tied a career-best seven three-pointers en route to 25 points. For the Wolves, Naz Reid led the opposition off the bench with 23 points with Julius Randle adding 19 points.
The old cliché ‘a game of two halves’ is one often used in the NBA — often to reflect the contrasting fortunes of a team from one half to another — but in this game it could be applied to the first half alone.
The Hawks roared out the gate in this contest, building a 19 point lead in the first quarter alone as they outscored the visitors 35-19 behind a strong return to the lineup for Young, who scored 10 points. In the second quarter the Wolves pushed back with a 36-17 second quarter to take a lead into the half.
An evenly — and at times scrappy — third quarter then ensued, with the Wolves taking a slender lead heading into the fourth quarter, following this incredible layup from Jalen Johnson following the full-court heave-pass from Mathews:
The Hawks took a four-point deficit and edged to a five-to-seven point margin by the midpoint of the fourth, and following a vicious dunk by Randle on Vit Krejci, the Hawks led by five points just over five minutes remaining. The Hawks would then go on a defining run which would see them separate themselves from the visitors in a hurry.
Garrison Mathews — who had already hit a career-best seven threes — draws a foul on a three-pointer as Mike Conley makes a rare misjudgment committing the foul on Mathews on the shot. Mathews would dispatch all three free throws:
On the next possession, the Hawks get a stop as Dyson Daniels slides over as the held on the pick-and-roll with Conley and Randle — with Daniels getting a hand in to procure the steal, his seventh of the night:
It’s always a risky proposition to leave Anthony Edwards open, but Daniels typically calculates these situations well, and the disruption forces the turnover.
After a missed three from De’Andre Hunter, two screen calls dictate the next phases of play: Randle is called for an offensive foul on the screen, and Young is decked by a Reid screen which leads to two free throws, which Young dispatches to give the Hawks a 106-96 lead — prompting a Minnesota timeout with the visitors facing a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter with 4:06 remaining.
While the Hawks re-establishing their first double-digit since the first quarter was a gradual progression, what happened out this timeout was a sucker punch.
Out of the timeout, Daniels gets his hands on another steal — a career-best eighth in the game — as he swoops around from behind Randle underneath the rim to slap the ball away. Daniels shovels the ball to Young, who finds the streaking Jalen Johnson who delivers the slam dunk:
Edwards missed a lot of shots last night, including this next play as he drives into a clogged paint and into the contest of Hunter at the rim. The Hawks head in transition and Hunter is waiting on the wing where he hits the three-pointer to give the Hawks a commanding 15-point lead:
The Wolves would respond with two consecutive baskets to bring the lead down to 111-100, but the Hawks had one more punch to throw.
Young takes advantage of a mismatch and switch between Randle and Conley, rising into the three as the Wolves pair attempt to switch back, and Young connects:
Young and the Hawks had one more hit to exact following a turnover from Randle after throwing the ball out of bounds. Young hit a one-legged three to give the Hawks a 17-point lead, and the game was now well and truly out of the Wolves’ control. The Wolves would take a timeout and empty their bench, marking the Hawks as the victors as they wrap up a positive home win.
Postgame, the multiple Hawks referenced the contrast in which they entered this game compared to the Grizzlies game, the loss on Saturday certainly still lingering their minds.
Trae Young believed this contrasting approach was highlighted by how the Hawks began the game.
“A lot of us felt some type of way after last game, and how it ended and we wanted to come out with a different energy, a different attitude,” said Young when asked about the Hawks’ first quarter. “The first quarter set the tone, even though we allowed them come back into the game it takes a lot out of you to come back from that much. That’s what happened in the fourth quarter. We just kept going and going and they ran out of energy.”
Jalen Johnson, meanwhile, elaborated that the Hawks diverted from their everyday habits and knew that they needed to begin this game in the right way.
“I think in the Memphis game we kind of got away from our principles and things we focus on everyday in practice. We got away from those and didn’t come out to a sharp start like we should have,” said Johnson. “This game, we knew we needed to come out right out the gate and just dominate — I think we were able to do that. They made a little run but we kept our composure but we were able to come back and win the game.”
The Hawks conceded 128 points to the Grizzlies on Saturday, including 43 first quarter points. Last night, the Hawks conceded just 19 points, with De’Andre Hunter believing that the Hawks were sharper in their rotations against the Wolves.
“We were a few seconds late against the Grizzlies,” added Hunter. “We were trying to make the right rotations but we were just late. I think we had a little more urgency tonight.”
Overall, the Hawks conceded just 100 points by the time the Wolves cleared their bench with 1:38 remaining, limiting the Wolves to 43% on 91 shots (18 more than the Hawks attempted, in part due to 16 offensive rebounds).
“It’s something we’ve talked about — trying to defend — you have to have energy in order to do that,” said Hawks head coach Snyder. “It was good to see us bounce back. We had a little trouble in the first half missing some rotations — they were able to get some threes. After we had a pretty good lead we gave it back pretty quick. I thought we kept our composure and continued to defend throughout the course of the game.”
Limiting Anthony Edwards was a part in this limiting of the Wolves offensively, with Edwards scoring just 16 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the field.
There were a few instances of Edwards getting into good spots and missing shots, such as this opportunity at the rim:
And this three-point attempt on the switch:
In contrast to the Grizzlies game, the Hawks did a much better job containing penetration out front and forced Edwards into mostly jumpshots, of which many of them were contested or difficult shots.
Here, Daniels gets a good contest in on Edwards’ long two-pointer:
On a switch, this time it’s Hunter who gets the assignment on Edwards, contesting Edwards’ three, which is missed:
Off the dribble, Daniels prevents penetration, forcing Edwards into the step-back attempt which is contested by Daniels and the shot is missed:
On the wing this time, Daniels is able to stay in front of Edwards — joined by some good help from Zaccharie Risacher — and Edwards is prompted into a turnaround jumper which is missed:
In the fourth quarter, Hunter does a very good job closing the space on Edwards and puts up a good contest on a three:
With the game getting away from the Wolves in the fourth, Edwards drives head-first into the traffic near the rim and misses at the rim:
Hunter took a few more possessions on Edwards in the second half, but for the most part this was a Dyson Daniels effort containing and contesting Edwards. Daniels, meanwhile, credited the team defense as the contributing factor in slowing down Edwards in this game.
“I think it was our team defense on Ant,” said Daniels on limiting Edwards. “We changed up our coverage a little bit, we to, like, a show with ‘CC’ and Larry. I think getting him (Edwards) on the back foot and trying to keep the matchup helped a lot. There was a lot of times where their guys set screens and we had to switch, and it was just about keeping them in front and make them take tough shots. I think it was a really good team effort tonight.”
“Anthony Edwards is a great player and Dyson is always wanting and willing to take a challenge,” added Quin Snyder on Daniels’ defensive job on Edwards. “I thought what he did off the ball as well when he was guarding Edwards and sometimes in helps situations where he’s able to come up with loose balls. Obviously he came up with a few of them with that many steals. You don’t take it for granted but on some level there’s an expectation there that he’s going to do that because he does it consistently.”
Daniels not only played his part in limiting Daniels but also produced a career-high eight steals. Many of these came in help situations, and Daniels provided a humorous insight on how he’s so successful stealing the ball.
“It’s just about reading the game and knowing where the ball is going to go, and hacking after that!” chuckled Daniels postgame. “There’s been a few games where I’ve had five or six fouls, sometimes I’m getting arm but when if I get the ball it looks good! I’ll keep hacking for sure!”
Joking aside, eight steals is just incredible, and to do it on the same night he received his Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month Award and limiting Edwards as he did was incredibly fitting.
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
“I didn’t even know it was an award, to be honest,” admitted Daniels postgame. “But now I know it’s an award, I’ll go for it every month for sure … it means a lot (to win it). I put in a lot of effort on that end of the floor so to get a bit of recognition for it is always special.”
A random play from Daniels I really enjoyed last night was his one three-pointer, in which he directs traffic and takes advantage of Rudy Gobert’s defensive tendencies and rises into the open three:
Daniels made a strong impact defensively as you would expect, but a player who made a strong impact offensively was Garrison Mathews.
Mathews got a nod in the rotation with Bogdan Bogdanovic ruled out of this game due to a lower left leg contusion, and Mathews picked up where he left off in the Memphis garbage time. Mathews tied a career-best seven three-pointers en route to 25 points, shooting 7-of-8 from the field and from three.
Mathews’ three-point shot has been a present whenever he has played, shooting 48.9% from three on 4.5 attempts per game. Mathews has had to sit out of the rotation when all the Hawks’ wings have been healthy, and Quin Snyder outlined the, as he described it, “unique” situation Mathews has to adjust to.
“It’s unique to have a player that played well in the early part of the year,” said Snyder of Mathews. “He did a lot of good things. He shot the ball, played defense. To not play for however many games… It’s easy for us to say stay ready… You’re not surprised when he makes that many threes because you really believe in him but obviously that doesn’t usually happen, particularly for that to be the case after being out for a significant period of time. It’s a credit to him and the work he continues to put in, whether he’s playing or not. He was ready.”
Mathews hit 5-of-5 of his threes in the first half, and in a second quarter where the Wolves were very much on top of affairs any hit from Mathews was big for the Hawks.
“Having ‘Bogi’ out — we all know what he brings to our team — Garrison being ready to step up, those were big shots for us,” said Trae Young of Mathews.
Mathews was obviously a strong threat from three, as was Trae Young last night, which hasn’t always been the case this season. Young scored a game-high 29 points on 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from three.
Young dished out only — for his high standards this season, averaging 12 assists a game — seven assists last night, with Snyder believing this was a night for Young to be more aggressive as teams sometimes play Young on the pass, adding that the Hawks’ transition game opened up threes for both Mathews and Young.
“I thought particularly in transition we got out and the floor was open, so those guys were able to attack,” said Snyder. “I thought Trae, there’s games where people play him for the pass. He was aggressive a number of times and that was something he knew he needed to be when he plays against a shot blocker like Rudy (Gobert). I think in general for our team, this is one of the best jobs we’ve done playing with our eyes out and looking for each other when there’s guys open on the perimeter. It’s something we’ve a lot talked about, and we need to continue to improve on, we need to continue for those passes to be on target. I liked what I saw with that.”
Two of Young’s four threes were one-legged threes, a newer addition in Young’s game that he credited Wolves defensive wing Jaden McDaniels in adding to his game.
“To be honest I started wanting to do it a lot more after playing Jaden McDaniels a couple of times these last couple of years,” said Young of his one-legged threes. “Coming off a screen, shooting a three and getting it blocked, I didn’t want that to keep happening. Being able to come off and shoot a one-legged three it’s hard for the defender to time it and also hard for the defender that’s guarding me to come back over the screen and block it — that’s the reason why I do it. I practice it every day, I don’t use it all the time because I’m not super comfortable with it yet but I think I was 2-for-2 tonight, so that’s OK.”
A newer addition to his game and certainly effective last night for Young, it’ll be interesting to monitor how much more he goes to it as the season progresses and if it becomes a more regular feature in his every-game arsenal.
Overall from a players’ perspective, Young was impactful and efficient last night, as was De’Andre Hunter (19 points on just nine shots), as was Jalen Johnson who scored 17 points on 8-of-14 from the field to go with 11 rebounds and seven assists. The Hawks, in general, played efficiently offensively (shooting 53.4% from the floor and 50% from three) and defensively they basically held the Wolves to 100 points in this contest — the hosts were worthy winners in the end.
If there was one knock you could have against the Hawks last night, it was that they registered another 21 turnovers last night following 25 against the Grizzlies on Saturday. Young had five of these turnovers on return to play, but that’s still far too many across the rest of the roster. This will have to be improved in the coming games — 20-plus turnovers typically comes back to haunt you.
All in all, the Hawks were clearly annoyed by their level of play from the Grizzlies game, and they were quite public in saying so after this game. They were better in basically every regard last night compared to Saturday from minute one: a clear point of emphasis from Memphis. It’ll have to be the standard again as they continue to jostle for seeding in a tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff picture.
The Hawks (15-15) are back in action on December 26 at home to the Chicago Bulls (13-17).
Happy holidays to all, and until next time!