Holding off a late scare, the Hawks (8-9) held on to beat the Hornets, 115-105, Saturday at State Farm Arena.
Next up, the Hawks will conclude their five-game homestand Monday against the Thunder.
Below are some takeaways from the win:
1. Entering the fourth quarter up 12, the Hawks still held what felt like a comfortable 12-point lead with 2:38 to play. But, the next minute was a mess, with a turnover and missed 3-pointer by Trae Young, all the while giving up an 8-0 run. But, clinging to a 106-102 lead with 1:18 to play, the Hawks cleaned it up and made plays when it mattered with clutch 3-pointers from Kevin Huerter and Cam Reddish and John Collins adding a key block on the other end.
“Games come down to getting stops and making shots, and a lot of times, you’re in situations where you don’t make shots, you don’t win games,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “I thought Kevin’s 3 was a big 3 and Cam’s 3 was a big 3 down the stretch in that fourth quarter. You have to make breaks for yourself and I thought our guys did that tonight.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
2. The Hawks have won four straight games on a five-game homestand, bouncing back in a big way after losing six straight in early November. They went from 4-9 to now one game under .500 at 8-9, making up some ground with yet another home game Monday (vs. the Thunder). Even though Charlotte (10-8) was on the second half of a back-to-back, having just hosted the Pacers Friday night, it had won five straight and was on a roll, so this was a solid win to pick up.
3. Offensively, the Hawks hummed along nicely, with six players finishing with 15-plus points: Clint Capela (20 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks, one assist), Young (19 points, nine assists, four rebounds), Huerter (17 points, four assists), Reddish (17 points, six assists, three steals), Danilo Gallinari (16 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals) and Collins (15 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks).
4. Offensive rebounding kept the Hornets in this game, tallying 21 offensive rebounds (58 overall) to the Hawks’ eight offensive rebounds (50 overall). That allowed them to extend possessions and helped lead to 24 second-chance points. Hawks bigs often had to switch onto Hornets guards and ended up out on the perimeter, which left the rebounding to Hawks guards and explains some of the disparity, Young said.
“I really like the way we played other than the rebounding,” McMillan said. “If we rebound the ball, then I think we control this game, but we didn’t rebound the ball.”
5. A lot of this comes down to strength of schedule, playing tougher opponents so far on the road, for the most part, but the Hawks have a pretty drastic home/away split to start the season, 7-1 at home and 1-8 on the road. Their 7-1 record at home is the best in the East, and it is the Hawks’ best start since going 7-1 at home in the 2011-12 season.
Stat of the game: 6 (Hawks who scored 15-plus points)
Star of the game: Capela (led the Hawks in scoring and rebounding with 20 points and 15 rebounds)
Quotable: “It’s lovely. You never want to lose games at home. ... Coming off that tough road trip, and then being able to come back and rally back at home, it’s lovely for us, and it’s a real chemistry-booster for everybody, so we can keep winning at home.” (Collins on the Hawks’ four-game win streak)
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