The Hawks should be on national TV more often, as they proceeded to a 2-0 record on Wednesday night ESPN games. The Hawks snuck out of the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, with a 102-99 victory against the Pelicans to go 3-1 overall.
New Orleans was without young star Zion Williamson, but the Pelicans, led by Brandon Ingram, came to play. The Hawks trailed the Pelicans for the entirety of the first half, until finally gaining the lead midway through the third quarter. From there, it was a back and forth affair till the final seconds.
It was the usual duo of Trae Young and John Collins that paced the way for Atlanta and scraped out this victory. Young was effective all night, mixing an array of floaters, three-balls, and a smooth midrange game. He finished with 31 points on 48% shooting, and chipped in 7 assists with 5 rebounds. John Collins was held captive with early foul trouble once again, but still put together an impressive 16 and 12 stat line in 25 minutes.
The Pelicans had a total team effort, but ultimately felt short. They had a chance to win the game with 1.5 seconds left, but Ingram was stifled step-for-step by Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter. The leading-scorer for the Pelicans was guard m, Devonté Graham, who finished with 21 points, followed by Ingram with 20.
Atlanta out-rebounded the Pelicans 21-9 on the offensive glass and carved out second-chance after second-chance. Both teams shot rather poorly from three-point land, with the Hawks shooting 26.7% and the Pelicans shooting 30.6% as a team, respectively.
Tonight was the front end of a back-to-back for the Hawks. Next up for them is a road date with the surprising Washington Wizards. That game tips off at 7:00pm eastern.
