The Hawks headed roughly 20 minutes south to the home of their G League affiliate to host the New Orleans Pelicans in a sellout game at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park Saturday afternoon.
In front of 3,051 fans, the Hawks held on to down the Pelicans 110-105.
Here are five observations:
1. Hawks coach Quin Snyder has harped on the team’s need to improve on transition defense in the exhibition season and the team looked to have taken a step in the right direction. Despite the Pelicans opening the afternoon with a dunk from guard Herb Jones, the Hawks gained control of the game fairly early.
Though the Hawks still struggled to take care of the ball, they kept the Pelicans off balance early on the offensive end. They went 7-of-10 on fast-break points, scoring 15, all while holding the Pelicans to 18 points in the paint.
As the team continues through the exhibition season, it will look to continue cleaning up those miscues.
“Compared to our first game, (I) thought both our last game against Memphis and then tonight, our guys, it’s been a point of emphasis and for them,” Snyder said. “When you start to see them talking to each other about it, that’s the ownership that you need in order to get it done because it’s not enough for them to hear it from me. They do. But as they start to internalize it, and that’s a big thing for us.”
2. The Hawks continued to cycle through the roster during the exhibition season. The team sat Clint Capela for the first time this exhibition season, with Saddiq Bey and De’Andre Hunter once again sat in street clothes.
So the Hawks took the time to continue experimenting with a different starting lineup and rolled with Onyeka Okongwu at starting power forward and Bruno Fernando as their center.
Okongwu spent much of his early minutes guarding the Pelicans’ Zion Williamson, while Fernando tried to limit Jonas Valanciunas. The two handled their matchups early as they helped hold Williamson and Valanciunas to a combined 4-of-11 in the first half.
Snyder noted that the team has spoken about Okongwu playing minutes at power forward but declined to say whether it would definitively happened.
He ended the day with an efficient 8-of-10 overall shooting day for 18 points and six rebounds. His afternoon included a highlight windmill dunk which Dominique Wilkins rated a 10 on the Bally Sports broadcast.
“Dope man, that’s dope,” Okongwu said of the rating. “A lot of the guys haven’t really seen me, you know, do trick dunks or go outside my two-hand monkey dunks. So it was just sick for everybody to see.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
3. Throughout the first two exhibitions games, Snyder would sit the starters after the first half to give some of the team’s younger players minutes. On Saturday, Trae Young and Dejounte Murray played into the first three minutes of the third quarter.
They shined in the Hawks’ new look offense, thriving off of the constant ball movement. They combined for 10-of-18 overall, with Murray knocking down two 3s. Young scored 15 points and five assists, while Murray had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Snyder said the two wanted to open the second half and then he pulled them from the game in the third quarter. He was pleased with how they played.
4. The Hawks will continue to evaluate the best fit as the starting four. Third-year forward Jalen Johnson made a strong case for why it should be him. Johnson had his most versatile outing, showing he could get to the basket, make 3s and compete on the glass.
The 21-year-old had 12 points, three rebounds, seven assists and had two steals. Had it been the regular season, Johnson would have notched a career-high in assists.
He gave the Hawks plenty of defense, helping them get out to a 29-point lead in the third quarter.
5. With the Hawks hosting the Pelicans at the home of their G League affiliate, they looked to bring the game to more of their fans.
Snyder has been a vocal supporter of the G League and the Skyhawks, as the Hawks look to take their developmental program to the next level.
The Hawks currently have Trent Forrest, Seth Lundy and Miles Norris under two-way contracts. Both Lundy and Norris will spend the majority of their time in College Park since the two are just in their first years in the league.
“It’s an advantage for us to have our team in Atlanta accessible and I think you’ll find over the course of the season, you’ll have guys that are not assigned here that are here watching games,” Snyder said. “We’ve got a group that really pulls for each other.”
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