Ladies and gentlemen, the Atlanta Hawks look like they have turned the corner in preparation of the playoffs. Wednesday’s 136-118 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder marked their third straight win and their ninth win in their last 12 games. After a rough stretch, which saw Atlanta lose to multiple sub .500 squads, the Hawks have righted the ship and have been stacking up wins since. With the NBA’s play-in tournament less than a month away, some movement in the current standings could propel the Hawks from having to play an extra game via the 9-seed vs 10-seed match-up.
Following a win versus the Indiana Pacers, the Atlanta Hawks kept up their strong play to put on an absolute show in Oklahoma City. Trae Young had a career-highlight performance in his home-state, scoring 41 points and dishing out 8 assists in just 29 minutes of action. This was Young’s fourth 40-point game in the month of March alone. Hawks fandom may be accustomed to these hyper-efficient outing’s from Young, but last night was one of the best of his career.
The Hawks had six players score double-digits, and both ‘Ice-Trae’ and Bogdan Bogdanovic, were facilitating easy shots for their teammates, combining for 14 assists total. Atlanta got off to a great start, as Young drilled a logo-bomb three for the Hawks’ first bucket. The Hawks proceeded to jump out to a 42-24 lead after the first period and never looked back. Atlanta led this game by as many as 34 points and virtually beat OKC in every statistical category. Even fan-favorite, Kevin Knox, had himself a night, finishing with 17 points off the bench, with John Collins and Danilo Gallinari absent for this match-up.
This was a game the Hawks needed to win, should have won, and ended up securing the W. This was also the frontend of a back-to-back set, as the Hawks turned around to host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Atlanta Thursday night.
Following convincing wins against the Pacers and Thunder, the Hawks kept up their momentum in a blow-out win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Atlanta with a final tally of, 131-107 .
Throughout portions of the season, Atlanta has struggled in the first-halves of many games, but during this stretch, the Hawks have looked like a team on a mission. There have been multiple games squandered this season where the Hawks built up a decent lead, but were not able to pull out the win. Thursday night was not the case, as Atlanta built up a 13-point lead, and the silver-lining being the confidence they were playing with, which is looking prime for a playoff push. It was also the fourth time in four games that the Hawks scored 65+ points in the first half alone.
Against Cleveland, Atlanta was in the driver’s seat the entire second-half. Young finished with 30 points and 9 assists in just 28 minutes. There was a moment of concern for all of Hawks nation, as Young tweaked his groin toward the end of the first-half and had to be helped off the floor. He did later return at the start of the third period to finish the game. ‘Ice Trae’ has absolutely dominated the past 12 games, averaging an All-NBA worthy stat-line of: 30.1 points, 10.8 assists, and 1.3 steals.
Kevin Huerter continued his hot streak, scoring 23 points on an efficient 5-of- 6 from three. This marks the fourth straight 20-point game from the Maryland-product. Onyeka Onkongwu also had a hyper-efficient showing, scoring 17 points and hitting all six of his shot attempts, along with hauling in 12 boards. Clint Capela also pitched in with a 12-point and 14-rebound double-double.
Atlanta has given themselves a chance to better their playoff position with this current four-game winning streak. Coming into Thursday’s game, Atlanta was set to play all three teams ahead of them in the standings: the Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors. These are golden opportunities to make ground and climb the standings. The next test is a home-date against the Nets, led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. It should make for a play-off like atmosphere in State Farm Arena Saturday night, and the team will need the home crowd’s energy. Tip-off for Saturday night’s game is at 7:30 p.m. eastern and this game will be broadcast on NBA TV.
