Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic ensured that the Hawks’ brief soiree under .500 was short-lived, leading the Atlanta Hawks to a 125-106 victory over the Charlotte Hornets Friday night to finish out their three-game road trip.
The Hawks started the game well, jumping out to a 14-point lead after the first quarter. Their lead would balloon to as many as 24 in the 2nd quarter, before a 27-5 Charlotte run-which spanned the last two minutes of the second quarter, and the first four minutes of the third quarter-made this one a contest as Atlanta carried a 6-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Atlanta’s second unit took it from there, as the lineup of Aaron Holiday, A.J. Griffin, Bogdanovic, Jalen Johnson, and Frank Kaminsky outscored Charlotte by 12 points in the first six minutes of the quarter to help secure this one for the Hawks.
‘Bogi’ was absolutely fantastic in this one, pouring in 28 points on just 14 shots. He finished with a game-high +28 plus/minus in only 29 minutes. Trae Young looked better offensively, finishing with 31 points and 9 assists. It is worth noting he did a lot of his damage from the free-throw line going 13-14, which is still encouraging in regards to him being aggressive.
By far, the biggest surprise for the Hawks tonight was the play of Frank Kaminsky III. The former-Hornet finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. He splashed in two three’s, and his shooting and playmaking were invaluable as the Hawks went to a “5-out offense” in the majority of his minutes.
While Kaminsky looked good, it would be an overreaction to advocate for him to be a bigger part of the rotation moving forward. However, his play tonight does give the Hawks a blueprint to turn to for when John Collins returns or if Clint Capela misses any more time.
For Charlotte, LaMelo Ball led the way with 27 points, on 9-18 shooting, and Nick Richards added 13 points and 11 rebounds, including 8 offensive boards. Gordon Hayward made his first appearance from a shoulder fracture and put up 9 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Charlotte absolutely pummeled Atlanta on the offensive glass, with a 15-4 advantage in this area, and even took 22 more shots than the Hawks (97-75).
As the adage goes, “it is a make or miss league”, and Atlanta was ‘making’ while Charlotte was ‘missing.’ The Hawks were incredibly efficient on their looks, shooting 55% from the field and 15-29 from downtown, while Charlotte could only muster a 40% field-goal percentage on the night. The Hawks also made 15 more free-throw’s, which played a big part in their success.
The Hawks will look to keep their winning ways going as they square off against the Orlando Magic on Monday night for the fourth and final match-up between these two teams this season. By all indications, John Collins and Dejounte Murray are nearing their returns, and both have been officially marked as questionable for Monday’s contest. Tip-off for this one is 7:30 p.m. eastern from Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.
