Hawks return to within one game of seventh seed with win over Jazz

Young finished with 23 points and 15 assists to put up his 10th game of the season with 20-plus points and 15-plus assists. He also secured his NBA-best 48th point/assist double-double of the season and is now only one game away from tying John Wall for the 15th-most in NBA history.

Okongwu, who has thrived since the Hawks named him a starter in January, posted his 26th double-double of the season, the most double-doubles in a single season in his career.

“I mean, O, is just dominating,” Hawks’ Mouhamed Gueye said. “You’re gonna see him and you’re going think like, ‘O, he undersized all that.’ But he out there, dominating, getting all the rebounds dunks. He’s a big piece of our team. Just learning alongside him, alongside all the guys, really T-Mann (Terance Mann), him, Georgie (Georges Niang), I think they will help me a lot.”

2. Some nights, the basket seems wide open and Vit Krejci couldn’t seem to miss a shot, going 6-of-6 overall. Krejci made five 3-pointers in 24 minutes of action to finish the night one shy of his career-high of six 3-pointers made.

Krejci stepped into every one of his shots confidently including an acrobatic, reverse layup with 3:47 to play in the first quarter. He side-stepped into his next bucket with 8:40 to play in the second quarter, hitting a 3 from the right corner. Then he made his third bucket of the night with a tight contest from Jazz guard Isaiah Collier.

“It feels like you’re at the right spot, always at the right time,” Krejci said. “It’s weird. When you make those shots, you feel like you’re everywhere, and then when you’re not making them, you feel like nowhere. So, it’s very funny to think about it like that. But yeah, it’s a hell of a feeling. So yeah, but I’m happy that we got the win.”

3. Just one night after the Hawks played Gueye at the five in Saturday night’s loss to the Knicks, after he played him just five minutes in the first three quarters. But the Hawks went back to Gueye as their center off the bench instead of Dominick Barlow.

The Hawks have primarily played Gueye on the wing, but on Sunday he played 10 minutes at center, scoring eight points, grabbing three rebounds, as well as having one assist and one block.

It’s all a part of the Hawks plan to not box Gueye into a specific position and have the 22-year-old go out on the court and hoop.

“So we just go out there and play basketball,” Gueye said. “I don’t see it as like, I’m a five or I’m a three or I’m a four. I’m just a basketball player. So, we had a meeting, he asked me what my position was. I said, ‘I don’t know.’ He said, ‘just be a hooper.’ So, he’s a hooper. So, it’s no different for me. Just go out there trying to help the team win.”

4. Though Hawks forward/center Larry Nance Jr. has called Atlanta home for just one season, he has already ingratiated himself into the community. So, before Sunday’s game the team named Nance this season’s winner of the Jason Collier Memorial Award. Each year the team presents the award to the Hawks player who embodies the spirit of community engagement similarly to the Hawks center who passed away in 2005. Nance is the 18th player to receive this award.

5. The Hawks may be locked into the Play-In Tournament, but every game continues to matter with seeding on the line. Sunday’s win over the Jazz inched the Hawks a little closer to the Magic, who had a 1.5 game lead on them. Now the Hawks are just one game behind the Magic ahead of their face off on Tuesday night.

It also allowed the Hawks to maintain a one-game hold on the eighth seed over the Bulls after their win over the Hornets earlier on Sunday.

Now, one game separates each of the teams ranked seventh through 10th.

Stat to know

The Hawks 43 assists on are the most assists in a non-overtime game since Jan. 30, 1993 against the 76ers.

Quotable

“We want to get that seventh seed. We got Orlando twice, nearly to get the team that’s ahead of us in Chicago and Miami right behind us as well. So, we want to win games.” - Dyson Daniels on the final stretch.

Up Next

The Hawks face the Magic on Tuesday in Orlando.