Six on the bounce now for the Hawks as they continue to climb the Eastern Conference standings.
The Atlanta Hawks secured on overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, 134-132, to notch their sixth consecutive victory.
Trae Young led the Hawks with 31 points and 20 assists, while De’Andre Hunter added 26 points off the bench. For the Lakers, LeBron James posted a triple-double of 39 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, and Anthony Davis added 38 points.
It was an enthralling encounter at State Farm Arena, with both sides very evenly matched throughout the entire contest. The only exception was the Lakers initially were able to establish a double-digit lead in the third quarter after Jalen Johnson picked up two quick fouls to begin the third quarter (his fourth on the game).
However, the Hawks’ response was almost immediate, and an 8-0 run brought the lead back down again. From this point forward, the teams exchanged blows in a game that saw 17 ties and 32 lead changes in total.
The Lakers looked to be in the driving seat, holding a four point lead with 1:55 remaining after a James basket — four points may not seem much for for how many ties and lead changes there were in this game. It was a lot more security than both teams had for the majority of the night!
The Hawks made a number of clutch plays in the fourth quarter and overtime, beginning with this three from Dyson Daniels in the corner, freed up after the Young-Hunter pick-and-roll gives Young the jump on James, forcing the rotations from Davis and Max Christie:
Massive three from Daniels, who had been a bit reluctant at times to take outside shots last night but made this one when it was needed.
Immediately after this three, Daniels steps up to the inbounds and forces Davis into action: an illegal screen to prevent Daniels getting up to the ball, and the offensive foul on the Lakers is called (video won’t do it justice but Daniels’ pressure made something out of absolutely nothing):
Daniels again pull through for the Hawks as he attacks off the dribble, steps through and hits the floater to give the Hawks a lead:
A fantastic 15 seconds for Daniels to help flip the game in Atlanta’s favor on both sides of the ball — it cannot be understated how important this sequence was in the Hawks eventually forcing overtime.
A Davis lob gives the Lakers a lead again but only for a moment as Young’s attempt inside is missed but Daniels again gets in the mix and the rebound turns into a second chance opportunity as he finds Hunter for the go-ahead three-pointer:
The Hawks caught an unlucky break on the next defensive possession, as James’ attempted pass to Davis inside is deflected right back into his path and James converts the layup to tie the game:
Hunter and the Hawks can consider themselves unlucky here, but now the last possession of the game is in their hands.
As for what the Hawks did with it…I’m still at a bit of a loss, as Young is blocked by Christie:
The Lakers are well positioned here to deal with any penetration attempt Young is able to get on either side of Christie. You can see the Lakers’ box — there was no hope here for Young once this set, not on his own. Similarly, the passing lanes are fairly well monitored, James was on this one very quickly as he stepped up away from Hunter.
It looks like a terrible shot, but I’m not sure what else Young was supposed to do. There was movement at all from the other four Hawks other than the flash across from Jalen Johnson. Okongwu looks set to be ready to set a screen on the weakside had the ball swung to Johnson — perhaps that was the play, and Johnson to get downhill using that screen?
Trae Young offered an explanation postgame as to what was supposed to happen.
“The last play of regulation, I knew I was wanted to get the last shot regardless what happened,” said Young. “I told JJ to go through and it was some miscommunication. He came up and set a screen, and then there was a switch and he pressured me. LeBron stepped up on my right, side so there wasn’t a driving lane on either side. I saw the clock going down, and I knew I was going to get the last shot off regardless. And we were going to overtime if we didn’t win.”
Young might have been misremembering the play somewhat, as there was no screen and no switch as Johnson flashed across. Anyways, to overtime.
Similar to how the fourth quarter ended, the Hawks find themselves trailing with under two minutes to go, down three after a Gabe Vincent three. The Hawks respond in an unusual manner: the Young-Daniels pick-and-roll, off of which Daniels gets the jump on Davis and gets to his floater again to bring the lead down to one:
However, it proved a temporary reprieve as misses on both ends followed by a Davis step-back jumper gives the Lakers a three point lead with 43 seconds remaining:
The defense here from Clint Capela is solid, Anthony Davis is just very, very good.
The Hawks take a timeout, now facing the most important possession of overtime: miss, and the Lakers play the free throw game. A make, and the Hawks are right there. In the end, a mix of both, as Johnson drives to the rim but draws the foul and two free throws, both of which he knocks down:
Daniels is immediately present again as he intercepts the pass from Davis. Unfortunately for Daniels, the player who the pass was intended for — and now chasing him down — is LeBron James, and Daniels is blocked at the rim:
The Lakers would take the opportunity to challenge the ruling, hoping the ball had come off of Daniels’ hands last. It was a prayer, and one that was answered, giving the ball back to the Lakers.
Out of the timeout, the Hawks pounce upon Davis near mid-court on the catch, and Daniels is the one who ties up Davis for the jumpball:
Davis would win the tip, but on the fight for the loose ball, both Hunter and James get a hand in with the officials determining the ball touched James last, giving the Hawks the ball.
Out of the timeout, Young rejects the Hunter screen but offloads the ball to him, and Vincent makes a critical misjudgement and loses Young, and Hunter returns the ball to him. Young rises and hits the go-ahead three:
Young detailed the play during his postgame press conference, noting the differences between this play and the final regulation play.
“We made the adjustment in overtime and we got into better spacing,” said Young. “I was able to use ‘Dre and he didn’t necessarily set it (the screen) but slipped to the top of the key and it caused some confusion. I was able to get downhill and draw two but then I threw it back and both the guys went to him and I was able re-space out and get a three. Kind of the same thing we wanted to do in the first. We probably should have switched it up and maybe had ‘Dre set the screen instead of Jalen, but that’s stuff where you live and you learn. It went to overtime for a reason and we found a way to figure it out then.”
“I think Trae made a good read,” added Hunter. “He started to attack slightly, and they both went with him, and when he passed it to me I saw them both run at me. It was a simple play, Trae re-spaced and he was making shots all night. I was confident he’d make that one, for sure.”
With no timeouts, the Lakers have to immediately go, and the three that is eventually launched by LeBron — with quite a bit of time to spare — is missed, and the Hawks secure the rebound and the victory:
Postgame, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder spoke to the level of trust Young and Hunter have between each other in order for the go-ahead basket to unfold as it did.
“Those two guys really trust each other,” said Snyder of Young and Hunter. “Trae, and then ‘Dre to find him. Trae’s catch-and-shoot threes are something we’ve really tried to emphasize and he’s really worked on. For it to be that shot tonight was affirming. Trae’s had a terrific game, and ‘Dre gives us not just production but his presence that guys really feel. They trusted each other, and that’s a big deal.”
Young similarly led the praises for Hunter, describing that while the Hawks have all had good and bad moments over the last six games that Hunter has led the way.
“First off, how about De’Andre Hunter?” exclaimed Young postgame in his opening. “That dude has been playing really well and leading us. Coming off the bench and being ready to play these last six games, we’ve all had really good moments and sometimes some bad moments in games and you’ve got to tip your hat to ‘Dre these last six games on how he’s been coming off the bench ready. Tonight, he did a great job from beginning to the end. The last play, he’s been so hot I was trying to get him a shot and he still made the right play because both guys went at him and was able to find me and we found a way to win. I give all the credit to ‘Dre.”
Hunter finished with 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 5-of-9 from three in just under 34 minutes off the bench.
Hunter is beginning to garner some Sixth Man of the Year buzz nationally now, and the Hawks’ six game winning streak against some of better and then more popular teams in the league is certainly putting the league on notice as to what Hunter is doing off the bench.
Hunter is now leading all players in scoring per game off the bench at 19.5 points per game, but notably has only played 11 games off the bench so far compared to the Celtics’ Payton Pritchard’s 23, who would be Hunter’s main opposition to Sixth Man of the Year. Very early days for Hunter and Sixth Man of the Year, but he’s certainly making his case heard and he was excellent last night.
Young was also fantastic last night, scoring 31 points to go with a staggering 20 assists with just three turnovers.
Unlike has been the case of late, Young had more success shooting outside the arc than inside it, shooting 9-of-25 from the field and 5-of-9 from three.
Young has been good at not forcing the issues when shots haven’t fallen or when he’s been double-teamed, but last night I thought there were a few occasions where Young tried to force the issue inside. Nevertheless, he made an undeniable impression on this game, still the willing passer and looking for his teammates in their spots.
Quin Snyder was asked about the Hawks’ depth, and he made reference to Young just knowing where and when to find his teammates, citing trust moving the ball.
“I think it goes back to the trust,” said Snyder when asked about the Hawks’ depth after seven scored in double-digits. “Guys are moving the ball when someone is open, regardless of what might happen. They’re able to find each other in spots they know. Trae finds ‘Bogi’ when he slips out, finding ‘Dre in transition with a walk-up three. It’s reflective of a level of unselfishness that’s really good.”
Young stepped up in the third quarter, scoring 15 of his 31 points in the third and after Johnson had gone to the bench with those four fouls. Young believed it was something that needed to be done when Johnson was out for the count in the third.
“I felt like I needed to do more,” said Young. “Jalen got in foul trouble, they were calling some fouls out there…felt like we were playing five versus eight to be honest, but we still fought through it. The fouls didn’t affect anybody and I had to do more for my team and that’s what it needed.”
Speaking of Johnson, the fouls may have ended up dominating the perception of his overall game — and he was very subdued in the second half as a result — but his first half was genuinely brilliant. This was especially so when it came to handling the ball and facilitating the Hawks’ offense and finding others, especially when Young was off the floor.
Johnson was finding teammates left, right, and center, and was dictating play — five of Johnson’s seven assists all came when Young was off the court. He was just bossing the play, and I mean that in a good way.
This one jumps to mind, directing Okongwu down the lane for the dunk:
Just to highlight this phase from Johnson, he and Zaccharie Risacher combine beautifully between passing (Johnson) and off-ball movement (Risacher) for the basket:
Here, Johnson drives to his weaker left side, gets in the air, hangs, and wraps a pass to Bogdanovic in the weakside corner for three:
That is a fantastic play from Johnson — he was so, so good in this stretch and it’s a shame that the fouls derailed his game, because he was playing brilliantly. In the end, Johnson scored 12 points on just eight shots to go with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Johnson is an excellent player to have playing with that second unit when Young sits out, and the bench unit again was very strong, outscoring the Lakers’ bench 65-17. The exploits of Hunter are of course well known (and he was great), but Bogdanovic was great too, adding 20 points, and Okongwu was a force inside the Lakers didn’t deal with very well in the first half (adding 15 points in total.). Vit Krejci got the nod in place of Kobe Bufkin and while he scored four points in 14 minutes, he made some impact plays in his time on the court.
Snyder spoke of the bench postgame, as well as the benefits of having Johnson playing alongside that unit.
“We see ‘Bogi’ and ‘Hunt’ with their scoring, Onyeka and Clint when ‘O’ has come in, they give each other a lift,” said Snyder when asked about the bench. “I think the thing I like most about those guys is also a credit to the guys who are starting. When you watch wrestling and someone comes in and someone comes out, tag-team — I think that mentality is really good. Having Jalen is stabilizing too at the end of quarters when he can handle the ball.”
Another stabilising force on the court, especially defensively, is Dyson Daniels.
Daniels was fantastic in this game. The defense you come to expect, and another four steals for the Great Barrier Thief is almost just another day at the office at this rate.
However, as we looked at in the clutch and in overtime, Daniels made a huge impact not just defensively but offensively too. The balance between the two sides has been an element Daniels has been adjusting to, but last night he finished a hugely important 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and the praise of his coach.
“He had it figured out tonight,” said Snyder when asked about Daniels’ offensive contributions. “Particularly for our younger players, whether it’s Dyson, Zacch, or JJ, it’s hard to be consistent — that’s the key. In Dyson’s case — Zacch too — that consistency is not make or miss, it’s taking those shots. Everybody has confidence in them. The play where Dyson made where he threw it out to Hunt, that’s some of the trust I’m talking about. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your shot but when the ball moves and it’s your turn to shoot and you’re open, shoot it with confidence regardless what happened the last time you shot it.”
11 points may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but the majority of those 11 points could not have come at more important moments for the Hawks, not to mention the turnovers he helped force.
It was a brilliant effort up and down the entire roster. The only player who perhaps didn’t get as much shine as others was Clint Capela, who did make a contribution in overtime as he got the nod there.
It was a brilliant win for the Hawks, now winners of six straight games and looking to put past notions of inconsistency and mediocrity behind them.
“I am proud of the way we’re playing but nor relative to any team or any past, these guys are their own team,” said Snyder. “For them to continue to build an identity they can feel and replicate is the main thing.”
The Hawks (13-11) are back in action on Sunday when they take on the Denver Nuggets (11-9) at State Farm Arena.
The Nuggets will be on the second night of a back-to-back, and while that might mean something normally, their opposition is the Washington Wizards, who haven’t won any games since they twice beat the Hawks in October, losing 16 straight games since. So the Nuggets will likely be rested well enough if that game unfolds as expected.
We shall see! Until next time!