The Hawks finally beat the Wizards after a dominant second quarter. Despite slippages at the end of the quarters, the Hawks downed the Wizards 129-117 on Friday night in the second game of Group Play in the NBA Cup at State Farm Arena.
Here are five observations.
1. The ‘Great Barrier Thief’ struck again. For the fourth consecutive game, Dyson Daniels had six steals.
But he followed up his career night in Boston, where he scored 28 points, with another game impactful game. He scored 25 points, had four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and six steals all while giving up just one foul.
“I think he’s one of the best defenders I’ve ever seen,” Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter. “I don’t even have to look but I think he has six, seven steals. But yeah, he’s amazing. He guards the lead guard on whatever team and he usually takes them out the game. So, he makes it a lot easier for myself and definitely everyone on the team.”
He’s had 25 steals over the last five games.
Daniels missed just four of his overall shots from the floor and has steadily improved his efficiency over those last four games. He’s shot 53.7% from the floor over his last four games as the Hawks have pushed their team along with the acronym L.T.F.F. which means “let that (ball) fly,” which has instilled confidence in them.
2. After missing the game in Boston against the Celtics on Tuesday, guard Trae Young returned to the lineup, albeit rustily. Young made just two field goals in the first half. He struggled to hit his layups and floaters that typically come second nature to him.
Young would drive to the basket and look to hit the floater but it fell just short. He ended the night with 18 points, with all of his buckets coming from 3. He also had nine assists for 19 team points.
Following the game, Young shared with reporters that the injury has been lingering since the beginning of the season and that the team held him out of Tuesday’s game as a precaution and that he’ll continue to play through the discomfort moving forward.
“It’s something I’m going to have to play through,” Young said. “But tonight it wasn’t nothing too crazy.”
3. The Hawks dominated the second quarter of the night’s matchup holding the Wizards to six points for just over 11 minutes. After giving up 39 points to the Wizards in the first quarter, they locked down their defense, contested every shot and chased them off the 3-point line until the last 29 seconds.
They held the Wizards to 16.7% shooting from the floor, all while keeping them off the free-throw line.
The 11 points allowed in the second quarter is the first time since Nov. 2, 2022, when the Hawks gave up just 10 points to the Knicks in the third quarter.
4. Like Young, Hunter returned to the rotation after missing the previous 11 games. He immediately made an impact, scoring a layup just seconds into his first stint in the game. He looked confident hitting his shots, scoring off the dribble and in isolation to put up a season-high 22 points.
The Hawks have missed the presence of Hunter and what he can do on both sides of the ball as one of the team’s top options.
Hunter also provided the team with help on the defensive end, like when he rotated over to help Onyeka Okongwu to give a double on center Jonas Valanciunas. He cut of the bigs look at the basket and forced him to turn away to protect the ball. Hunter eventually found an opening to grab the ball and force Valanciunas to throw an elbow to get free.
5. After beating the Celtics on Tuesday and downing the Wizards on Friday, the Hawks are now 2-0 in NBA Cup group play and currently lead East Group C.
Stat to know
Eight of the Hawks’ players in tonight’s 10-man rotation scored double figures. It’s the first time since the Hawks have had eight players finish with double-digit scoring since Oct. 29, 2023 against the Bucks.
Quotable
“We didn’t have good concentration at the end of quarters. We didn’t have good concentration at the end of the game. It’s hard to point to any one thing and it was our whole group.” -- Quin Snyder on the Hawks navigating the unique circumstances, like point differential, in the NBA Cup.
Up Next
The Hawks head out West for a seven-day, four-game road trip that kicks off in Portland on Sunday against the Trail Blazers.
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