The rookie scored a season-high 33 points as the Hawks narrowly defeat Knicks
The Atlanta Hawks wrapped up a three-game homestand with a victory against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, 121-116.
Zaccharie Risacher led the Hawks with a breakout game of 33 points, Jalen Johnson and Trae Young both added 23 points — each adding 15 rebounds and 10 assists respectively. For the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 34 points to go with 16 rebounds, and Jalen Brunson added 21 points.
For the game itself: Hawks rally late to wrestle control
The Hawks and Knicks have taken part in many enthralling encounters of the years (I was going through some old screenshots and found this scoring breakdown for the thrilling 4OT game from 2017), and last night was another to add to the list.
Neither team led by more than eight points all night long, trading blows back and forth. Long story short, the Knicks held a five-point lead with under two and a half minutes remaining in the fourth, and, while not dominant by any means, they would have been expected to see this one out.
The Hawks cut the lead to three points as Young and Dyson Daniels engage in the guard pick-and-roll, and Daniels makes a nice read to find Johnson in the corner for a three-pointer:
A complete overplay from OG Anunoby here: Daniels was 3-of-16 from the field and could not get anything to go near the rim all night. Anunoby’s length gives him a decent chance to contest, but Johnson converts the play.
Johnson does an excellent job defensively on this next possession. Towns comes to set the screen which would have freed up Anunoby, but Johnson’s activity means that Brunson can’t immediately get off the ball to take advantage of the good Towns screen, and Johnson is able to get around and contest the shot:
This next play might be one of the plays of the night. Young faces the double from Brunson and Josh Hart. As he does, Risacher makes his move off the ball to come to the free throw line and receives the ball. Towns steps over and Risacher hits him with the fake, to which Towns backs towards Clint Capela underneath the rim, allowing Risacher to rise into a mid-range shot to tie the game:
The game-feel from Risacher here is really, really impressive. His movement off the ball to go to the space for the catch to relieve Young, the fake to shed Towns, and then the confidence to take the shot knowing how close the game was and to make it…quality play from Risacher all around here.
The free throw battle ensued from here, as Brunson splits a pair to give the Knicks a one point lead, before Capela is sent to the line where he dispatches both free throw to give the Hawks the lead again.
Faced with a switch with Capela out front, Brunson opts to pass to Towns in the corner who launches the straightaway three. Daniels gets a contest in, the shot misses, and Johnson rips the rebound and control of the ball, finds Young, who finds the onrushing Capela for the dunk in transition to give the hosts a four point lead, leading to a Knicks timeout:
A great contest from Daniels here, supreme rebound from Johnson to secure the ball, and great work from Young and Capela to finish the play.
Brunson’s three out of the timeout is well contested by Daniels, and from here it was free throws the rest of the way for the Hawks, with Risacher and Young dispatching to seal the game and wrap up a great victory as the Atlanta faithful had the last laugh on the New York contingent inside State Farm Arena.
“We were consistent,” said Hawks head coach Quin Snyder. “We had competitive endurance. Down the stretch we got some stops and made some plays offensively.”
Competitive endurance has been the new buzzword this season from Snyder, more than a few occasions now he’s mentioned this ‘competitive endurance.’
Still, it’s hard to argue with it, as the Hawks are at the moment still missing Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter, Kobe Bufkin, and Vit Krejci. This was a quality win, and lots of players played their part in making it happen. Arguably, none more so than a certain rookie…
Risacher arrives
It’s not slanderous to say that Zaccharie Risacher has struggled somewhat offensively to begin his NBA career. He’s had some solid performances here and there, but Risacher had struggled on offense. This is to be expected of course, as rookies generally struggle initially to adjust to the NBA, its spacing and its physicality.
Risacher has been plucking away up to this point, his offensive struggles not deterring him from taking the next shot, and he’s continued to let it fly with confidence. Last night was the game where it all seemed to come together for Risacher, scoring a season-high 33 points (16 in the second quarter alone) on 11-of-18 shooting from the field, 6-of-10 from three, 5-of-9 from the free throw line to go with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks.
We’ll have a look at a few of these baskets.
On a few occasions now, the Hawks have gone to Risacher as the first play of the game and last night was another example of the Hawks looking to get Risacher’s confidence up early. Here, he receives the ball before getting off of it, comes back to Capela, uses his separation to rise into a three to give the Hawks their first basket of the night:
Risacher was confident in his stroke all game long, but what was similarly impressive was his work outside of the three.
Risacher is a willing runner, and when Garrison Mathews gets the steal on this possession Risacher sets off in support, receives the ball and finishes the fastbreak:
Risacher’s movement off the ball is really positive, and he showcases this on this play, ducking out and then back in for the cut, where he receives the ball and finishes at the rim, gathering beautifully at the rim (much to Larry Nance Jr.’s enjoyment on the bench):
This time off the dribble, Risacher attacks from the corner to his left, gets inside, and he adjusts nicely when Towns arrives to finish with his left hand:
Next, Risacher turns defense into offense as he telegraphs the pass out to the perimeter, leads the attack, and when he’s afforded the space backs out to the three-point line to confidently take the three:
We’ve seen examples of this next clip in other games, but it’s perfect in this system for Risacher as he attacks the offensive glass, sneaking in for the follow:
We looked at this play earlier on, but everything said then bears repeating — this was such a fantastic play from Risacher in the fourth quarter, not like that of a rookie but rather an experienced pro:
Risacher also delivered at the free throw line to finish this game under pressure, missing just one of his four free throws in the final stretch.
Defensively, Risacher was as involved as always — in a good way. He was active and disruptive, with three steals and two blocks on the game.
Earlier we looked at a play where Risacher finished in transition after a steal from Mathews. Here, Risacher returns the favor, this time for Daniels after Risacher intercepts the pass:
In the second half, Risacher showcases his length to pry the ball loose and create the turnover. His shot in transition is blocked, but it’s an impressive steal nevertheless:
On the drive from Towns, Risacher maintains his verticality and is credited for the block on Towns, fuelling a fastbreak which ends in a basket for Jalen Johnson:
Risacher was brilliant on both sides of the ball, and was lauded postgame by all.
“He’s competitive, he’s working, all the things from his mental makeup that allowed him to push through and keep shooting,” said Snyder of Risacher. “That’s what we’ve talked about: keep working, keep playing, keep competing. He had a good night.”
As someone who knows a thing or two about bouncing back in big ways from some difficult shooting nights, Trae Young wasn’t surprised to see Risacher respond.
“I knew it was bound to happen eventually,” said Young of Risacher. “I know it’s going to continue to happen the way he’s playing.”
Jalen Johnson spoke for his teammates in expressing joy of seeing Risacher make shots for his sake.
“That’s why he was the number one pick,” said Johnson of Risacher. “He showcased everything tonight and it was so fun to see him see the ball go in. It was a tough stretch shooting for a lot of us, so seeing him see the ball go in was exciting. I know he’s going to continue to work hard, and he’s going to use this as a building block.”
“There’s no label you can put on him as far as what he can do,” Johnson added of Risacher. “He can do everything. He showcased the offensive side and previous games it’s been defense, tonight it’s been everything.”
This was Risacher’s breakout game, the one he can refer back to, the one he can build on, as Snyder said. There’ll be games where it doesn’t go as planned, but now the Hawks and Risacher have seen a glimpse of the future when it all does come together, and that can only inspire optimism up and down the roster.
Risacher continues to feel the confidence of everyone around him, and the message from Snyder to him is to continue to let it fly, which Risacher explained in no loose terms.
“He basically tells me to shoot the f***ing ball!” said Risacher postgame. “Every time! That’s not just from him, that’s everybody around like coaching staff and my teammates. It helps for the confidence, especially me coming from France and adjust. It’s super helpful for me to be in that kind of position where you have the confidence of your coach and everyone else.”
The fatigue is another element Risacher has had to adjust to coming from Europe where entire games are 40 minutes long. Last night, Risacher logged 37 minutes.
“I’m tired!” exclaimed Risacher postgame. “It’s an adjustment. Nothing to compare for me from overseas, it’s a special thing. We’re doing what we love to do, so it’s nothing to complain about. From my perspective, a lover of the game, I’m grateful for this opportunity to be able to play each day.”
A ‘team win’
When asked about Risacher’s performance, Snyder was quick to share praise up and down the roster.
“This was really a team win,” said Snyder. “It was good to see Zacch make shots but everybody contributed in different ways. Whether it was Dyson defensively, Trae playmaking, JJ did some really good things (with) his versatility, I thought Clint did a good job, Keaton gave us good minutes off the bench. Everyone contributed in some way.”
Risacher will steal the plaudits, but there were a lot of good performances last night for the Hawks.
Jalen Johnson was excellent: 23 points and 15 rebounds on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from three in 39 minutes. Offensively, Johnson is at his best when he’s not forcing the issue, and last night everything just came so naturally to him. It feels like one of those situations where the more you try not to force the issue, the more comes to you — it just comes within the flow of the game (which Snyder has often spoken about with Johnson).
Additionally, Johnson’s rebounding has been excellent of late (another point of emphasis from Snyder), and it hasn’t gone unnoticed from his teammates.
“We’ve got some guys out and Clint can’t be the only guy down there rebounding — or ‘O’ when gets in the game — so we’ve got to help those guys out,” said Young of the rebounding. “Jalen did a great job tonight rebounding. When he rebounds like that, it makes our team that much better because he can take the rebound and go. I just try and get out there and get some rebounds and help out in that way too and not just be two-dimensional — scoring and getting everybody involved — and try to mix in some rebounds too when I can get it.”
As for Young himself, he was cold in the first quarter, shooting 1-of-6 from the field and 0-of-3 from three. After the struggles of the first quarter however, Young was able to find a rhythm, shooting a much more respectable 6-of-15 from field and 3-of-6 on his threes, in addition to setting his teammates as he so often does (10 assists last night).
Young is still feeling the effects of a recent rib sprain and feeling ill in the aftermath but playing through it (in addition to David Roddy, who also played through illness).
“Struggling tonight, I wasn’t feeling well at all,” said Young postgame. “Decided to play, got banged up a little bit … they’re a really good team and they made it tough for us all night long but we found a way to win.”
“I was taking deep breaths, it felt like a cramp was in my rib on my right side,” added Young. “Anytime I would cut, or someone bump me, even the slightest touch I just felt achey. I was sick all night. I’m human. Everybody gets sick … I really couldn’t breath on my right side, I was taking deep breaths and it felt like it was chest pain.”
Young played well given the circumstances and was good in this game, outside the first quarter. He also helped iced the game late on with free throws, and there are fewer people better in those late-game situations at the free throw line than Young.
Elsewhere, Clint Capela was excellent: 18 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting, and making those two huge free throws in the fourth quarter as Snyder elected to finish with Capela over Onyeka Okongwu. Capela grabbed four offensive rebounds, part of the Hawks’ 16 offensive rebounds which led to 27 second chance points — a massive swing in this game for the Hawks to help offset the Knicks’ 22 three-pointers.
Dyson Daniels may have struggled from the field in a big way, but he was excellent defensively — Brunson may have scored 21 points, but the amount of occasions where Brunson had to get off the ball or Daniels forced a pass cannot be underplayed. Daniels was excellent, and he added another four steals to his already high tally.
Off the bench, difficult games for Roddy and Okongwu, but Keaton Wallace again provided good minutes with Young on the bench, and Garrison Mathews hit another two of his four three-point attempts.
The Hawks got a lot of good performances through their roster, and they needed all of them.
Trae Young vs. Knicks fans
The ever-enjoyable battle between Trae Young and the Knicks fans continued last night.
The Knicks are one of a handful of teams (such as the Celtics and Lakers) where a large following attends State Farm Arena when they are in town. As such, it was quite the raucous atmosphere as both fans were in good voice for their teams.
After the game, and after the Hawks had secured victory, Young wasted no time in sending his regards to the departing Knicks faithful!
“Obviously when that happens you just try to win the game,” said Young of the fan rivalry. “At the end of the game you want your team to be cheering the loudest and that’s what happened. Our fans stayed and they left.”
Zaccharie Risacher was surprised by the number of Knicks fans in attendance but certainly enjoyed the atmosphere, and the support the Hawks faithful brought.
“It was dope,” said Risacher of the atmosphere. “I was surprised there were so many Knicks fans in our arena. That was weird for me coming from Europe. We really feel like our fans have our back. It was special. It was a tight game too, we could feel the energy in the arena.”
Just another fun addition to the ‘Trae Young vs. New York’ saga, which has been hilarious at times to watch.
All in all…
A quality win for the Hawks, who bounced back beautifully after the Boston game in another spot in which the opposition was favored to win.
“I think that’s the beauty of the NBA, you have a game every other day,” said Johnson of the Hawks’ response.
Risacher was brilliant, as was Johnson, and even in the midst of all these injuries your mind is left to wander what the Hawks could really look like once their depth returns.
The offensive rebounding was so key for the Hawks. Not too often you allow 22 three-pointers and survive to tell the tale of victory. Being able to register 16 more shots than the opposition will certainly help claw some of that back.
Nights like last night leave a lot of room for optimism. Let’s see how it can continue.
The Hawks (4-5) head on the road to take on the Detroit Pistons (3-6) on Friday night.
Until next time!