Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher delivered a performance for the history books in Wednesday’s 121-116 win over the Knicks at State Farm Arena.
The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, Risacher scored a career-high 33 points and had six rebounds, three assists, two blocks, three steals and zero turnovers in 37 minutes. By halftime, he was knocking on the door of the previous high for this season in points in a game by a rookie. He scored 22 in the first half Wednesday. He surpassed Grizzlies center Zach Edey, the ninth pick in this year’s draft, who scored 25 points three days ago.
At 19 years and 212 days, Risacher became the fourth youngest player in the NBA since 1977-78 to finish a game with 30-plus points and zero turnovers behind LeBron James (19 years, 36 days), Kobe Bryant (19 years, 116 days) and LaMelo Ball (19 years, 167 days).
Risacher leads all NBA rookies in points per game, averaging 12.0 per contest through nine games. Before Wednesday’s game, he ranked fifth among rookies, averaging 9.4 points per game.
“He’s just a basketball player,” Hawks forward Jalen Johnson said. “Like for him, there’s no label you can put on him as far as what he can do, because, as you guys seen, he could do everything. And tonight he showcased the offensive side. And, previous games has been defensive.
“Tonight, it was just everything. It was so fun seeing him, you know, have a smile on his face after hitting a couple shots, him having things going, you know, the crowd shoot a little extra louder for him, like that’s all stuff that’s that’s gonna motivate him. So it was cool to see that.”
For the rookie, though, he had one thing on his mind and that was making an impact on the game. That’s how he approached the game when he played in Europe, and that’s how he’s approached every game since the Hawks drafted him in June.
Risacher may have had two solid exhibition games last month. But since the regular season began two weeks ago, he’s needed to adjust to NBA opponents playing in earnest.
Despite his sound decision-making and instincts to cut to the basket, Risacher just couldn’t make shots as defenders played physically against him when he got to the rim. He made only 32.9% of his 10.6 field-goal attempts per game through his first eight games.
He didn’t fare better from 3, making only 21.1% of 4.8 3-point attempts.
But his confidence never wavered, and he kept attacking the basket. He kept shooting the ball. He remained unflustered on defense. And he always looked to close out on shots, no matter how far away the shooter stood from him.
When playing defense, he hasn’t shied away either. His 1.7% block percentage puts him in the 94th percentile among forwards, according to Cleaning the Glass.
“I feel like, from my perspective, I start every game with the same mentality, with the same mindset. I just want to compete want to do my best. And sometimes, like, my best is (33) points or whatever. Sometimes it’s not, I just do whatever I can to impact the game. So sometimes, you know, it will be on defensive stuff. Sometimes it would be like points. Sometimes it would be extra stuff.
“But yeah, I just come to the games with the same mindset every time. And I think that’s the right thing to do because we play so many games. We like, we cannot like, I cannot afford for me to like, one day be lazy, or one day like, be like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get a turn.’ It’s always the same mindset every time, same way to prepare, same way to handle the extra stuff, to be able to be 100% on the court when it’s time.”
He has that attitude in practice, as well as off the court with how he approaches his recovery. Risacher often is among the first people in the gym, according to his teammates, and he often is one of the last players to leave the floor during the portion of practice media members are allowed to observe.
For the 19-year-old, everything on the court is just a small part of his adjustment to the NBA. The Hawks played nine games in 16 days. They’ll have their second set of back-to-games in seven days when they play the Pistons on Friday and the Bulls on Saturday.
“It’s been great to experience that playing every two days, back to back, traveling and everything,” Risacher told reporters at shootaround Wednesday morning. “It’s an adjustment to make, and I feel like I’m in a good environment to be able to perform and compete. I’m super, super glad to have a good people around me to help me to adjust. And games goes fast and days go fast. Feel like it’s been a while, but it’s only been, like, two weeks (since the season began).”
After the game, Risacher continued to acknowledge how much he needs to adjust, even though he already has three seasons of professional experience behind him.
“Man, I’m tired,” Risacher joked. “It’s an adjustment. Nothing to compare a for me, like from overseas. It’s really a special thing, but it’s also, we’re doing what we love to do. So it’s nothing to complain about.”
That adjustment will lead to even more ups and downs throughout the remaining 73 games in the regular season. That’s why Hawks coach Quin Snyder is quick to temper expectations that the rookie’s progress will fold in a straight line.
“I think as excited as I am and ... I think the enthusiasm about Zacch’s performance is great, but his progress isn’t going to be linear,” Snyder said. “He’s got to stay at it. As I said, we have confidence in him, whether he makes shots or doesn’t. As much as anything today, I thought he was really good on defensive glass, as well.”
Like Snyder, Risacher’s teammates hold that confidence in him, and that’s why they didn’t grab the game ball for the rookie after the game.
“He’s going to have much (better nights) than that,” Johnson said.
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