They say defense wins championships, and the Hawks finally have one. Atlanta has been on an absolute roll as of late, winning six straight games, headlined by performances from bench and role players, who are stepping up in a major way to help superstar Trae Young. It culminated into a 108-92 victory at home for the Hawks against the visiting Boston Celtics.
On Friday evening, it was Bogdan Bogdanovic, again, who played terrific off the bench. John Collins also chipped in with a great performance of 21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks, in just 26 minutes. The Hawks jumped out to the lead to begin the game and ran with it from there. There was a brief period in the fourth quarter where the Celtics cut the lead down to one point, but the Hawks responded with an 18-to-2 run.
The most significant factor in this game was once again the play of the all-bench unit and their defense. The bench is looking more and more like it did last season, as the offense from veterans like Lou Williams, Danillo Gallinari, and Bogdanovic, mesh perfectly with the hard-nose defense of Onyeka Onkongwu and Delon Wright.
Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 19 points and a +/- rating of +20. His instant offense has been a breath of fresh air to a unit that was relying almost solely on the offense of Gallinari and Williams. Nate McMillan confirmed that Bogdanovic would likely remain on the bench for upcoming games and that staggering his minutes with Young seems like the best option right now.
Collins finally gave the fans what they have been wanting. The Hawks ran multiple plays for him, especially when Boston tried defending him with a guard throughout portions of the game. His help-side defense also benefited De’Andre Hunter, who was tasked with guarding both, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Hunter held Tatum and Brown to a combined 46 points, while shooting 14-of-39 from the field. Kevin Huerter was also tasked with guarding Tatum or Brown with Hunter, and played fantastic defense. Overall, everyone but two players in Atlanta’s lineup had a positive +/- rating.
Atlanta was able to pass the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings and have climbed up to the 11th seed. The Hawks will hope to continue their winning-streak on Sunday afternoon, as they host the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers make their lone visit to Atlanta this season, and it is yet to be known if LeBron James or Anthony Davis, will play in this match-up. Both players sat out of the Lakers game on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets. Tip-off for this one is early Sunday afternoon at 1:00pm eastern.
