The Hawks kicked off the first of back-to-back games and concluded their four-game homestand with a 120-110 defeat of the Heat on Saturday.
Here are five observations.
1. Despite running into some early foul trouble, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson picked where he left off Thursday night. Johnson scored 20 points in his first 21 minutes on the floor. He did it all despite fighting through the Heat’s physical play. Johnson made jumpers and layups, all while bouncing off the bodies of Heat defenders.
Johnson attempted only one free throw in the 35 minutes he played after drawing an and-one opportunity off Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. on a drive to the basket in the first half.
Meanwhile, Johnson picked up his fourth foul with 9:16 to play in the game, and he let the officials hear his thoughts on the matter.
But Johnson played through the frustration, finishing with 28 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. He had zero turnovers.
2. The Hawks managed their frustrations with the officiating. Early in the game, officials missed Tyler Herro hitting Garrison Mathews in the face with an elbow. They also didn’t whistle Haywood Highsmith for a foul after he hit Trae Young (11 points, 15 assists) in the face on a drive to the basket with under four minutes to play.
Young’s dribble went out of bounds, but the Hawks could not ask for a replay after losing a challenge three minutes earlier. They had challenged a foul on De’Andre Hunter with seven minutes to play after officials whistled him for making contact with the Heat’s Nikola Jovic while blocking a shot. Officials deemed that Hunter made contact with Jovic’s wrist.
“I think the one thing you can be sure of every game is that there’s going to be frustrating moments, and how you handle those, just like how you handle good moments, is usually the thing that determines your consistency,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.
3. But the Hawks weathered the storm, particularly in the absence of Dyson Daniels (illness) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (left lower-leg contusion). They tapped Vit Krejci to start in place of Daniels while continuing to bring Matthews off the bench of Bogdanovic.
With Krejci bumped into the starting five, the Hawks recalled guard Keaton Wallace, who’s on a two-way contract, to play as the team’s backup point guard.
“I just wanted (them) to compete and play defensively and try to be instinctive offensively and get more guys run,” Snyder said.
The three handled their elevation of roles as well as the Hawks could have asked, with Krejci looking to score when the opportunity presented itself, as opposed to passing on the open look. Wallace played strong minutes off the bench, making the right reads that kept the offense rolling well enough. But his defense allowed the Hawks to maintain their hold on the lead in the second half.
“A lot of guys found themselves in some different situations,” Snyder said. “So, I thought our execution defensively was solid.”
Mathews knocked down four 3-point shots and went 1-of-2 dunks, despite never attempting a dunk this season before Saturday’s game.
4. Daniels’ absence cut into the Hawks’ depth defensively, but the team stepped up, especially behind the strong on-ball defense of Hunter. The Hawks put the 27-year-old forward primarily on Herro.
Though, Herro may have been Hunter’s primary defensive assignment, the Hawks could count on the wing to handle switches onto Bam Adebayo in the post. When the Heat big man tried to post up, Hunter yielded little space and forced Adebayo to make the extra pass.
The extra defensive duties didn’t slow Hunter, who finished 26 points. He continued to aggressively take 3′s, finishing with four, and attack the basket.
“He’s a guy that, as a coach, you love to have in your team because he’s just a warrior, just a soldier,” Snyder said.
5. The Hawks have played 18 games when in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime the score was within five points, the fourth most in the NBA this season. They put up 50 points in the fourth quarter in their win over the Bulls on Thursday and put up another 27 to secure their win over the Heat.
They lead the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring, averaging 29.4 points per game. They also lead the NBA in total fourth-quarter points (940), overtaking the Grizzlies (923), following Saturday’s win.
Stat to know
The Hawks have 20 games with at least 25 assists, the second most in the NBA this season.
Quotable
“I love seeing Garrison step outside the comfort zone a little bit and going to dunk. He dunk all the time and practice. So, to see him getting really nice dunk, that was great to see.” — Jalen Johnson on Garrison Mathews’ dunk.
Up next
The Hawks face the Raptors at 6 p.m. Sunday in Toronto.
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