The Hawks (12-10) nearly gave the game away at the end, but escaped with a 114-111 win in Indiana Wednesday.
Next up, the Hawks will host the Sixers Friday.
Below are some takeaways from the win:
1. Even though Nate McMillan wasn’t there in person, this technically gives him his 700th career win. He’s fourth in wins among active head coaches behind Gregg Popovich (1,316), Doc Rivers (1,003) and Rick Carlisle (845). But, assistant coach Chris Jent actually coached this game, with McMillan isolating out of caution (he came into contact with assistant coach Jamelle McMillan, who entered the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols earlier Wednesday, and even though he returned a negative rapid-response test, he wanted to be extra cautious). This also gave the Hawks a win against former coach Lloyd Pierce, who is now an assistant for the Pacers.
“To be a part of that legacy, the quality of person and the quality of coach that he is, to be tagged with that man, that’s a great honor,” Jent said of helping McMillan to his 700th win. “I’m honored to be a part of that. So that was really cool.”
2. The Hawks had a 12-point lead at the 7:45 mark in the third quarter, but immediately crumbled on defense to enter the fourth quarter down, 88-87, after yielding a 15-2 run. They pulled ahead by eight early in the fourth but the Pacers kept coming. Leading 112-108 with 30.5 seconds left, the Hawks gave up a corner 3 to Jeremy Lamb, and although Malcolm Brogdon stole the ball from Trae Young, Chris Duarte missed a layup on the other end and didn’t get a foul called even though Kevin Huerter made some contact. So, the Hawks were able to escape with a win.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
3. This marks Trae Young’s fifth straight game scoring 30-plus points, and his NBA-leading fifth game with 30-plus points and 10-plus assists this season. He finished with a game-high 33 points and 10 assists for a double-double, adding eight rebounds and two steals, but did have that late turnover that could have changed the outcome.
“We made it tougher on ourselves at the end and a lot of it’s me,” Young said. “I’ve got to do better at closing the game and I almost gave the game up with that turnover at the end, but I’m glad we’re able to learn on a win.”
4. Although he and the Hawks may have gotten lucky at the end, this was another good game from Huerter, whose production has become all the more important with injuries piling up. Huerter added 19 points and four rebounds and has done well since re-entering the starting lineup, sliding in seamlessly when De’Andre Hunter injured his wrist.
5. Cam Reddish’s left wrist is still bothering him after spraining it in Saturday’s loss to the Knicks, so the Hawks started Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who had mostly played garbage time before both Reddish and Bogdan Bogdanovic got hurt Saturday. Luwawu-Cabarrot put together a solid performance, was active on defense and added eight points, three rebounds, one assist and one block. All in all, the Hawks were down two starters in Bogdanovic and Hunter (right wrist tendon surgery), their highest-scoring player off the bench in Reddish (11.5 points per game) plus Onyeka Okongwu, out since July after undergoing surgery on a torn labrum.
Stat of the game: Five (this is Young’s fifth straight game scoring 30-plus points)
Star of the game: Young (led the Hawks in scoring with 33 points, adding 10 assists for a double-double, narrowly missing out on a triple-double with eight rebounds)
Quotable: “I don’t. I never foul. I haven’t fouled anybody in my life.” (Huerter, deadpanning when asked if he felt he got away with one at the end of the game)
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