Hawks’ young players take care of business versus depleted 76ers

The Hawks were led in scoring by 21-year-old Dyson Daniels (25 points) and 19-year-old Zaccharie Risacher (22 points).

“I see five guys on the floor,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “I think everybody that was on the floor really competed. I thought we did the things we needed to do to win. Had a few times in the fourth quarter where we came up empty offensively, they were able to turn those into buckets.”

Here are five observations.

1. Sixers guard Quentin Grimes in particular turned the Hawks’ misses into buckets, scoring a game-high 35 points, with 17 of them coming in the fourth quarter alone. Grimes hit the Hawks with stepback and fadeaway jumpers to cut into the 22-point lead.

Grimes entered the night on a heater after scoring a career-high 44 points in a Sixers win’ nine days ago.

“It’s tough when you got a guy like Quentin Grimes making shots like that,” Hawks wing Terance Mann, who had a season-high 19 points said. “At the end of the day, there’s nothing we could really do about that. He’s shooting step-back jump shots. So, that’s just what it is.”

2. The Hawks needed Mann’s ability to defend multiple players, as well as the aggressive playmaking that he has had over the last 10 games. With 2:09 to play in the third quarter, Mann took a pass from Clint Capela and drove baseline before letting off a reverse layup to avoid two defenders.

“I‘m just trying to get to the paint and from there, just let whatever happens happens,” Mann said. “If I see the rim and I see I have a floater or middie, I’ma shoot it. If I see someone help, I’ll make the read. So I think that’s just what’s unique about my game, is being able to get to the paint and make a read.”

Mann attacked the basket and didn’t shy away from contact to get to the rim. When he needed to, he used his body or a couple of spins to create space and hit fadeaway jumpers that splashed through the net with little difficulty.

3. But Mann wasn’t the only wing to get hot and rookie Risacher poured on the scoring quickly and early. He burst on the court in Monday’s action against the 76ers, scoring 17 points of the first half and looked confident knocking shots down from the perimeter off of assists from teammates Georges Niang and Daniels.

But he also didn’t wait for the ball to find him, going out and finding shots within the flow of the game. Risacher flew in to the paint for a putback dunk that blew the roof off State Farm Arena, as he once again surprised fans with his athleticism.

“So I saw Keaton, just driving, and hit a pull up, and I wanted to crash, just in case,” Risacher said. “Turns out he missed the shot. And that was, like, the perfect timing because nobody boxed out on me. So I was just, I was just able to go get the ball and put it back.”

4. Risacher benefited from the unselfish ball movement of the Hawks, led by guard Daniels. The Great Barrier Thief accounted for much of the Hawks’ production in the fourth, especially without Young.

5. The Hawks have now won three straight games to give them a little more separation and ownership of the seventh seed in the standings. Their two wins over the Pacers along with some losses by the Magic and Heat helped to propel them up the standings. The Hawks hold

Five games still separate the Hawks from a chance at the sixth seed, which the Pistons seem to keep a strong hold on.

Stat to know

The Hawks had 34 assists to put up their 32nd game of the season with 30-or-more dishes to extend their single season franchise record for most 30-plus assist games.

Quotable

“I feel like I don’t judge me. I just make sure to start the right mentality.” -- Zaccharie Risacher on how he judges the progress of his rookie season.

Up Next

The Hawks host the Hornets on Wednesday in the penultimate game of the six-game homestand.