The Atlanta Hawks picked up a much needed victory on Tuesday night, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers by a final score of 120-118. This was a crucial win for Atlanta, with both Toronto and Chicago breathing down their necks for the 8th seed in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race.
Folks who tuned in to this one were treated to some standout individual performances on both sides of the ball. Dejounte Murray led the way for Atlanta, hitting tough shots all night long (including the game-clincher over Caris Levert) en route to 29 points, going 11-22 from the field. This was especially encouraging to see as Murray had been in the midst of a cold-spell, shooting 36.3% from the field and 13.2% from three-point range over his last 10 games. Onyeka Okongwu was phenomenal as well, tying his career-high with 21 points, snagged 9 rebounds and did a nice job protecting the paint defensively, with 3 blocks on the night.
For the Cavs, Donovan Mitchell was unbelievable down the stretch, scoring 11 of Cleveland’s final 15 points, en route to a 44-point night at the expense of his former head coach, Quin Snyder. Evan Mobley filled the stat sheet up with 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks and a steal to go along with 20 points. Darius Garland added 27 points, and the Mitchell/Mobley/Garland trio combined to score 91 of their team’s 118 points tonight.
This one went back and forth all night long with Cleveland jumping out to an early 17-7 lead, just to see the Hawks rally to tie the game up at 24 at the end of the first. In the second quarter, the Hawks took control, building a 15-point lead after a 4-point play from Dejounte Murray, but could not keep the Cavaliers at bay, and their lead was just 8 going into the half. The 3rd quarter was more of the same, with Cleveland started the period on a 22-12 just to see just Hawks respond with a 23-11 run of their own to take a 10-point advantage going into the 4th.
In line with the rest of the game, the 4th quarter also went back-and-forth, with the lead changing hands six times in the final 6 minutes of the game. Donovan Mitchell hit a step-back three to put the Cavs up by 1 with 5:30 left to play, just to see John Collins respond with a triple of his own to retake the lead for the Hawks. On the very next possession, Mitchell hit another three from the same spot, however the Hawks came right back down the floor and got Clint Capela a bucket out of a pick & roll with Murray. A few minutes later, Mitchell hit two free-throws to put Cleveland back up by one, then on the very next play, Murray got fouled by Evan Mobley on a three-point attempt, and Murray would reclaim the lead for the Hawks at the line. With the game knotted up at 115 with under 2 minutes remaining, John Collins hit Clint Capela with a beautiful lob after running a pick & roll with Trae Young to regain the lead for Atlanta. After forcing a miss on the other end, Murray hit the aforementioned game-clincher over Caris Levert to put the Hawks up by 4, and despite another Mitchell triple, the Hawks managed to eek this one 120-119.
This was an impressive victory for the Hawks, who won despite getting absolutely pummeled in the paint, as Cleveland finished the game with a 72-44 points-in-the-paint advantage, per nba.com’s game charts. Atlanta overcame this difference in part by winning the free-throw and three-point battles, making (and taking) 11 more free-throws, and 3 more three-pointers than the Cavs. The Hawks also had a huge advantage on the offensive glass, rebounding 36% of their misses while Cleveland only rebounded 23% of theirs, per cleaningtheglass.
A few more things worth noting, Trae Young did not have a great game tonight, despite finishing with a 16-point, 10-assist double double, though he did turn it on when it mattered most – racking up 8 points and 3 assists with no turnovers in the 4th after shooting just 1/8 from the floor and coughing the ball up 6 times through the first three quarters. After the game, Quin Snyder praised both his and Murray’s performances, saying the two guards “played off each-other” very well tonight, something that will be critical to the team’s success going forwards. Bogdan Bogdanovic has shot the lights out from three ever since the All-Star break (45% on 5 three-point-attempts/night), and continued to shoot with confidence tonight, going 3/6 from beyond the arc en route to 12 points. Saddiq Bey posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double, and was a team best +23 in 21 minutes off the bench tonight.
Vit Krejci also got his first meaningful minutes of the season tonight – a move which raised a few eyebrows around Hawks twitter given that first-round draft pick, A.J. Griffin, was available to play tonight – and while I don’t think Krejci will be a staple in the rotation going forwards, I think he offers the team something that they’ve been lacking in their bench unit as a pass-first player. Thinking about the Hawks bench, a lot of their players’ best NBA-skill is their ability to put the ball in the basket. While Krejci has shown some signs of a jump-shot in his limited minutes this season, what he really brings to the table is a pass-first mentality, undeniable effort on both ends of the floor as well as a bit of a size. He probably played tonight because the Hawks coaching staff was looking to emphasize ball movement in this matchup, with the Cavaliers boasting the #1 defensive rating in the NBA, and the Hawks’ tendency to revert to iso-ball at times. They also may have been looking for a bit more size on the perimeter with Cleveland’s guards being a bit more physical, as we saw him matched up with Donovan Mitchell for a few possessions. Again, I’d be a bit surprised if this was a permanent change going forwards, but I thought Krejci did alright in the two spurts he got tonight, even if his box score numbers did not pop off the screen.
Atlanta’s next game is on Friday night in a potential play-in game preview as they take on the Brooklyn Nets on the road. Tipoff for that one is at 7:30pm on Bally Sports. ‘Till then… Go Hawks!
