Hawks keep soaring with ninth straight win

Key moment

The Bucks kept hanging around in the first half, and the Hawks took just an eight-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

But the Hawks finally blew the game open thanks to a hot shooting night from McCollum. The veteran guard hit three 3s in 90 seconds in the first four minutes of the third quarter.

His third 3 in that span pushed the Hawks to a 73-59 lead, and the Hawks never led by fewer than 12 points for the remainder of the game.

Highlight play

Every once in a while, a player will go deep in their bag and their defender will pay the price. With 1:19 to play in the second quarter, McCollum dipped into said duffel and Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. fell on the receiving end of the veteran’s change of speed.

McCollum drove on Porter from the logo before hitting the brakes right inside the left wing. As Porter kept shuffling to defend, McCollum pulled up and drained a 3.

What they said

“I think we’ve been defending at a really high level. I think that’s the biggest thing. We’re really good offensively. We have a lot of talent, a lot of shooting. We have a lot speed. We have a good balance but I think defensively we’ve been locked in. I think we’ve had a lot of energy lately and I think that’s been a huge difference for us. Protecting our court is a big thing for us, and we want to build good momentum.” -- McCollum on what’s worked for the Hawks during the nine-game win streak.

“OO (Onyeka Okongwu) is a part of what we do. Just how much he just does for our team, like a lot of it goes unnoticed. But everybody in that locker room understands how important and big he is for our team. He just continues to elevate and grow his game. He’s somebody that’s never satisfied where he’s at and continues to put in the work. The results are showing.” -- Johnson on the little things Okongwu does to make the Hawks’ life easier.

“There’s no one player that’s crashing. It’s multiple guys crashing. There’s no one player who’s rebounding. It’s multiple guys being physical and getting bodies on people. Onyeka maybe as much as anybody, he gives up a lot. JJ should take him to dinner because he’s keeping his guy on the glass.” -- Hawks coach Quin Snyder on the team’s offensive rebounding.

Up next

The Hawks host the Magic on Monday night. Every win has implications for the Hawks’ seeding at this point in the season. But Monday’s game could matter even more if the Hawks find themselves in a tiebreak situation with the Magic at the end of the regular season.

Standings watch

Though the Hawks have won nine straight games, the Raptors remain 1.5 games ahead of them after they beat the Suns. The 76ers beat the Nets on Saturday and once again have the same record as the Hawks.

But the Hawks have the ninth-hardest remaining strength of schedule, while the Raptors and Hornets have far easier schedules ahead of them.

The Hornets’ loss to the Spurs on Saturday put them 2.5 games back from the Hawks and 76ers.

The Hawks will also keep a close eye on Saturday night’s game between the Heat and Magic.

The Magic currently sit in fifth while the Heat rank sixth. The Heat sit one game behind the Magic in the loss column in the Eastern Conference and the Magic already clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two teams.

If the Magic lose, the Heat would even things with the Magic in the loss column. If the Magic win, the Heat fall two games behind the Magic in the loss column.