Image From @ATLHawks Twitter
The Atlanta Hawks hosted the Charlotte Hornets for the first of four meetings between divisional opponents. Atlanta hopes the other three will go as smoothly as it did Saturday night, after they ousted the Hornets, 115-105.
Consistency has been a theme for this Atlanta team during this win streak. The offense is shooting the ball at a higher clip, and moving the ball at a better pace. The defensive effort has turned up notch, and looking more solid as a unit.
The Hawks had six players finish with 15+ points on Saturday’s victory. Leading all Hawks’ scorers was big man, Clint Capela, who played like the “CC” of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. He was a constant threat off of the pick-and-roll or anywhere near the rim, as he finished with 20 points on 10/11 shooting. He also hauled in 15 rebounds and two blocks as well.
Trae young poured in 19, Kevin Huerter added 17 and John Collins finished with 15, to round out the double-digit scorers for the starting crew. Off the bench, Danilo Gallinari had his best game of the season with 16 points in 32 minutes. But ladies and gentlemen, Cam Reddish had another great showing off the bench finishing with 17. This is coming off the heels of the Boston Celtics game in which he finished with 19. The young forward is starting to find his groove after a rough stretch, not just for him, but the Hawks team as a whole. This is something Hawks fans have been praying to see and it seems like it could be coming to fruition.
During this winning streak, the Hawks are beating opponents by an average of 14.8 points per game. They are also shooting the three-ball at 40 percent, a very encouraging sign as a team. In addition, the Hawks bench is averaging 34.5 points over this stretch. Touted as one of the deeper teams in this league, it seems like the bench play is here to stay moving forward.
This was supposed to be a premier matchup between guards, Trae Young & Lamelo Ball. Ball could never really get going shooting just 5-18 from the field, but he still managed to put up a triple-double stat line, 15-11-10. Young didn’t shot much better going 5-15 from the field. The real star for both teams Charlotte’s high-flying forward, Miles Bridges. He led all scorers with 35 points and was a constant force all night. Unfortunately for the Hornets, it was not enough to overcome the Hawks team as a whole.
The Hawks can now turn their attention to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who come into town Monday. This will be the last game of the Hawks home stand before they hit the road for a two-game stretch in San Antonio and Memphis.
