The Hawks faced the Cavaliers for the second time in three days, this time in an NBA Cup matchup. Though the Cavaliers punched first in Friday’s game at State Farm Arena, the Hawks delivered the knockout to down them 117-101.
Here are five observations:
1. The Hawks got another huge game from De’Andre Hunter, who scored 23 points, off of five 3s in 28 minutes.
He’s come off the bench since returning to the rotation, allowing him to read the game. He hit a corner 3 to cut the Hawks’ deficit to three, in front of the Cavaliers bench just six seconds after he checked in for his first stint.
But Hunter’s hunting of mismatches gave the Hawks some oomph to eventually take the lead for good. With 2:32 to play, he went iso with Georges Niang after half-court, dribbling to the free-throw line before turning around to create space and hitting a midrange jumper to tie the game at 23.
“He is pretty important, obviously, right? Put an exclamation point on that,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.
2. Hunter capitalized off of three of Trae Young’s 11 assists. The Hawks guard put up a career-high 22 assists in the game in Cleveland Wednesday but even when he’s not dishing, he continues to impact the game despite seven turnovers.
Young chipped away with a couple of rebounds, saving busted plays that eventually netted the Hawks points. He scored 21 points on one of his best shooting nights since Nov. 17. But even when he’s not scoring and dishing, his ability to draw defenses away from the ball opened up things for the Hawks.
“It’s not just up to me,” Young said. “I have to be able to trust my teammates. I’m doing that and the (are) making plays.”
3. The Hawks may have opened the game with four turnovers in the first four minutes, allowing the Cavs to open a 16-6 lead. But they held them to just 11 points in the remaining eight minutes of the first quarter, took the lead and never looked back.
Their defense showed up in a mighty way as the Hawks, led by Dyson Daniels, held Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell to 0-of-11 shooting with 1:31 to play in the half.
They held the Cavaliers to the fewest points they’ve scored so far this season. The Hawks put up a 107.7 defensive rating in two games against the Cavaliers and held them to a season-low 101 points, well below their average of 123.5 points per game.
“They outplayed us,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They outplayed us. Not just the bench, one through 15 and they outcoached us. Sometimes you just have to call it like you see it.”
On top of that, the Hawks eliminated the Cavaliers from NBA Cup contention, forcing them to pull their starters with 2:14 to play.
4. Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher may have picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game. But the poise that he has shown early in his career continued with him picking up just one foul for his remaining 18 minutes.
“I think it’s, I give a lot of credit to the fact that I was able to play pro ball when I was really young, like 16,” Risacher said. “And I feel like it’s been a feeling of the game and just knowing that everything happens so fast.
“So, you don’t think about the past. You can’t control it, just try to make sure you’re ready to to handle the next play, defensively, offensively, it depends. Also, I have people around me to keep that energy in mind.”
He scored 11 points, had three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. He’s scored double figures in 12 of his first 20 games as the cadence of the NBA schedule has helped him adjust to the speed of the game.
5. The Hawks could clinch Group East C with a loss by the Bulls to the Celtics. Those two teams faced off Friday night.
Stat of the game
9 - Dyson Daniels finished with his NBA-leading ninth three-plus steal game of the season.
Quotable
“This is the one and only night I’ll be cheering for Boston.” -- Trae Young on whether he’ll watch Friday’s Celtics at Bulls NBA Cup game.
Up next
The Hawks head to Charlotte to face the Hornets on the second night of back-to-back games.
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