With balanced scoring and excellent ball movement, the Hawks (19-43) beat the Portland Trail Blazers (26-35) 129-117 Saturday night at State Farm Arena.
Below are some takeaways from the win:
1. A season-high 34 assists (compared to the Trail Blazers’ 14) paved the way for the win, opening up the Hawks’ offense. Trae Young led with 15 assists (and had a team-high 25 points), with Kevin Huerter adding eight, John Collins adding four, Jeff Teague contributing three and Cam Reddish adding two. That in turn helped their 3-point shooting (18-for-42, or 42.9%, compared to the Trail Blazers’ 8-for-28, or 28.6%). The Hawks entered the game averaging 23.7 assists per game, which put them at 20th in the league, and 11.8 3’s per game (18th). “The guys are finding something that’s pretty special, with ball movement ... 19 3’s last night, 18 made 3’s tonight,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “It’s pretty special. Now consistency is the key, and that’s always going to be the key for us. Can we keep it up, can we continue to share the basketball, move the basketball that way?”
2. Finally, the Hawks have won both halves of a back-to-back, having beaten the Nets Friday. Entering Saturday’s game, they were 1-9 on the second night of back-to-backs, their only win coming over Indiana Jan. 4. Against the Trail Blazers, they overcame a sluggish first quarter (in which they were held to 23 points) by shooting 56.5% from the field in the second, adding six threes to take a 63-56 lead at halftime. “I feel like it was just the struggle of a back-to-back,” said Collins, who added a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, of the Hawks’ slow start. “Tough NBA game, tough nights, scheduling, so on us to be professionals and move forward and I think we did that, trying to build our energy as the game flowed through.” Production off the bench also helped give the Hawks a boost, with Treveon Graham scoring 12 and Bruno Fernando adding 11.
3. No stranger to fourth-quarter collapses (like Monday’s loss in Philadelphia, or the loss in Orlando Feb. 10), it was cause for concern when a 3-pointer by CJ McCollum narrowed the Hawks’ 20-point lead down to 10 with a little less than four minutes to play. With no Damian Lillard, the Trail Blazers weren’t at their best -- Lillard, out with a right groin strain, is fifth in the NBA in scoring (29.5 points per game), adding 7.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. But the Hawks responded with two timely 3’s, one by rookie De’Andre Hunter (who scored 22 points, going 6-for-9 from 3) and one by Collins, and only allowed the Trail Blazers two more baskets, sealing the win. “It’s hard to close games. ... Obviously, CJ McCollum is a handful,” Pierce said. “They can score in bunches, and that was the message we were telling our guys, we just needed to put together a couple stops and then go down the other side and make them have to defend our movement.”
4. At the 9:55 mark of the fourth quarter, Reddish exited with low back pain and did not return to the game, but said postgame it was just soreness. Pierce described it as “tightness” as opposed to more of an injury, so it seems Reddish avoided anything serious.
5. After a little rough patch, shooting 9-for-33 (27%) from the field from Feb. 22 to Feb. 26, Huerter seems to be back in a groove. Huerter has gone 6-for-10 in two straight contests, adding 19 points (and three 3’s) after finishing with 15 points (and three 3’s) in Friday’s win vs. the Nets.
By the Numbers
84 (what the Hawks combined for in the second and third quarters, scoring 40 in the second and 44 in the third)
Quotable
“It was really special. When we play like that, it’s tough to beat us. Obviously, I’m going to get trapped a lot, so whenever I get trapped, getting off (the ball), and when guys make plays like that tonight, you can’t trap for too long.” (Trae Young on his 15 assists and the team’s season-high 34 assists overall)
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