HOUSTON -- The Hawks held off two second-half pushes by the Rockets and pulled away with a 134-127 win on Wednesday.
Here are five observations.
1. The Hawks led by as many as 20 points in the first half only to see the Rockets erase the deficit and take a lead in the second half. The Hawks answered and regained the lead, a 16-point advantage with 5:41 to play. A 9-2 Rockets’ run cut the Hawks lead nine points with 4:13 to go.
The Rockets would get closer.
A pair of shotclock violations allowed the Rockets to cut the Hawks’ lead to 129-125 with 52 seconds remaining.
The Rockets would get no closer.
Trae Young passed over the Rockets’ blitz to Saddiq Bey on the wing for a 3-pointer that put the Hawks up 132-125 with 35.4 seconds. Then Young shifted into another gear, going coast-to-coast and banked in a jumper with 21.9 seconds that sealed the game.
“We’ve had this discussion about the beginning of the game, the end of the game, third quarter,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “I think, for us consistently to be able to focus throughout the game, regardless of the situation, regardless of them having a lead or not, is exactly that it’s something we need to continue to focus on.”
2. It was a good showing from the Hawks backcourt tandem of Young and Dejounte Murray, who continue to naviagate their partnership. The two combined for 51 points.
Murray got the Hawks off to a strong start, scoring 14 of his 21 points in his first 10 minutes. He knocked down 4 of 5 shots from the floor, three of which came from long range to get the Hawks out to 10-point lead to start the game.
He also got his teammates involved, ending with five assists.
Young also continued his recent streak of games with 30-or-more points and 10-or-more assists for a fifth straight game. He scored 30 points and had 14 assists.
“They were really connected tonight,” Snyder said. “And, there’s times, Trae’s got the ball in his hands late and, you know, then finding that balance when, we want DJ to attack when he has opportunities as well, but those two guys, playing off each other is huge.”
3. The Rockets mounted their comeback toward the end of the second quarter. But Jabari Smith and Fred VanVleet sparked the Rockets surge in the third. The two powered the Rockets through the third quarter where they combined for 6 of 11 shooting from the floor.
VanVleet showed his speed and his ability to navigate passed defenders and get to the rim. When he didn’t get to the rim, he probed the Hawks defense and poked holes in it to find his teammates for plenty of buckets. He ended the night with 32 points and 15 assists.
Smith, a sophomore forward from Fayetteville, scored 13 points in the third quarter as he tied his career-high 30 points by the end of the period. He scored 34 points and had 13 rebounds.
4. Bogdan Bogdanovic returned to the Hawks lineup and picked up where he left off. Despite missing the past two games, he extended his career-long streak of 20-plus point games to six straight games, with his last five coming off the bench.
The Hawks have desperately needed Bogdanovic’s scoring off the bench, especially over the previous two games. Opposing benches have outscored the Hawks 57-46 over the team’s last two outings without him
5. The Hawks had a strong night from their centers, who combined for 34 points.
Clint Capela, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, was perfect at the free-throw line and has now gone 10 of 10 over his last two outings.
But with the Rockets using a small lineup down the stretch, the Hawks leaned on Onyeka Okongwu, who played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds after kickstarting the Hawks’ fourth-quarter run.
Stat to know
Trae Young is tied for the third-longest 30-plus point, 10-plus assist streak in NBA history and the longest since the 2016-17 season (Russell Westbrook: 5 games, March 26-April 2, 2017)
Quotable
“Some of them, you can’t really anticipate. That’s how good his passes are. But you gotta stay ready for them.” Onyeka Okongwu on Trae Young’s passing.
Up Next
The Hawks head to Miami where they face the Heat on Friday night.
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