Summary
Late last night, while most of us were asleep, the Atlanta Hawks were making their way through customs. They had to catch an international flight back home after a tough loss. Clearly, they used what little spare time they had to refocus on the task at hand.
While locked into the Play-In Tournament, the seeding is very much up in the air. It wasn’t always pretty, but the Hawks defeated the Washington Wizards 118-103. After giving up 65 points in the first half, the Hawks allowed only 38 points in the second half.
The Hawks’ defense might have been hit and miss, but they put on an offensive clinic per usual. Trae Young led the way with 30 points and 11 assists. Right behind him was Danilo Gallinari, with 26 points and 10 rebounds. With John Collins still recovering from injuries, Gallinari reminded us how desperately we need contributions at the 4-spot.
Despite the Hawks shooting 46.7% from the field and 41% from three, it wasn’t all great. De’Andre Hunter struggled on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 3-13 for 10 points.
Additionally, the Hawks defense was had trouble containing Kristaps Porzings (you read that correctly). The ‘Unicorn’ went off for 26 points and 18 rebounds. Some of his deep threes rendered the defender useless. Besides Porzingis, the outside shots weren’t falling for the Wizards tonight. They shot just 28.6% from deep.
Side Notes
- Trae Young scored 14 consecutive points to close out the third quarter.
- Trae Young scored his 7,000th career point.
- The Hawks allowed only 6 turnovers.
- Nate McMillan used an 8-man rotation but eventually cleared the bench.
- The Nets won tonight, so the Hawks remain tied (but don’t have the tiebreaker).
Post-Game Interviews
Hawks head coach Nate McMillan said, “I thought we did a good job establishing our defense in that second half. Third quarter gave up only 18 points. The fourth quarter only 20. So a solid defense to start that second half.”
A reporter asked if the team had talked about tonight possibly being the last home game of the season, to which McMillan replied, “We’ll talk about that. Basically, what I put on the board today was to ‘finish the regular season’ okay – the last of the regular season.”
The Hawks next game is in Miami on Friday night. As always, we will have plenty of content for you between now and then. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated’s AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.
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Best Photos from Wizards at Hawks
Check out these shots from State Farm Arena!
Stats
Hawks Leaders
Trae Young – 30 PTS, 11 AST
Danilo Gallinari – 26 PTS, 10 REB
Clint Capela – 19 PTS, 7 REB
Wizards Leaders
Kristaps Porzingis – 26 PTS, 18 REB
Corey Kispert – 12 PTS, 3 AST
Daniel Gafford – 12 PTS, 1 REB
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