Hawks’ Asa Newell posts double-double, plus takeaways from win over Suns

Newell used his 6-foot-11¼ wingspan to his advantage and rotated in time to help on the defensive end. He arrived to closeouts in time to disrupt plays.

The 19-year-old looked comfortable from 3, knocking down 3-of-4 shots in rhythm from deep.

“I’ve just been in the gym a lot,” Newell said. “I’ve been working on my feet, my release and my timing, and everything was clicking, so I just have confidence in my shot.”

Here are some other takeaways:

After not having his best outing in the Hawks’ Summer League opener against the Heat, second-round pick Nikola Djurisic had much better production Sunday.

Djurisic filled up the stat sheet, with 16 points, two rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 27 minutes.

“It felt great, honestly,” Djurisic said. “Especially we got a dub in the both games. First game, I was bad. I wasn’t feeling myself at all. Like I was tripping up and down the court. But this game, I just mentally better prepared. You saw how I play. I played a lot better, and the team played good, and we got the win.”

While Djurisic gave the Hawks a lift on the offensive end, he took a step in the right direction defensively. After picking up eight fouls in Friday’s game, he had just two on Sunday.

The 21-year-old didn’t sacrifice playing aggressively on the defensive end, meeting opponents at the rim to contest shots and force misses.

Djurisic, who signed his contract with the Hawks on Friday, played more freely knowing he has a little more certainty regarding his future.

“It was a big relief, I’m not gonna lie,” Djurisic said. “But the last, like, two months, I couldn’t sleep at night, honestly. But right now, feeling great, you know, getting ready for training camp. But first we’re gonna focus on Summer League, then we’re gonna build up. ”

Hawks two-way forward Jacob Toppin continued to provide a glimpse into how the team would benefit from his athleticism.

Toppin made several hustle plays and crashed the glass on both ends of the floor.

He had 15 points, eight rebounds and a steal to follow up his positive play from Friday afternoon.

“He’s known our terminology and knows what we’re trying to do,” Bailey said. “Just not even the last two games, just in general training camp. He’s been great with our guys, just being a leader, getting guys together, putting them in right spots on the floor. So that’s carried over into the games, and you’ve seen it, especially in the last fourth quarter today and two days ago.”

After putting up 29 points on Friday, Hawks guard Kobe Bufkin had a little more trouble getting to the basket. The third-year guard made just three of his 17 field-goal attempts and finished with 10 points.

But Bufkin still had a pulse on the game and set up his teammates for some big buckets. He had nine assists, some of which were for 3s down the stretch.

“We weathered the storm,” Hawks Summer League coach Bryan Bailey said. “We were up big. They went on their run, and we kept our composure down the stretch, just getting defensive stops. Again, it was in the fourth quarter defense and allowed us to run. So that was a big thing.”