For the fourth straight game, the Hawks handled business on Wednesday to defeat yet another team that has proved to be a thorn in their side. The Hawks have struggled against the Hornets in the past but they showed that they’re a team in the midst of turning a corner.
The Hawks picked up their third straight win over the Hornets, beating them 123-110.
Here are five observations.
1. Trae Young showed why he remains one of the league’s elite guards as he sliced and diced the Hornets’ defense. Young’s read of the game allowed him to get to his spots early, though the shots didn’t fall.
Young went to his floater early but the shots hit iron or rolled off the rim, but he eventually began to use the Hornets’ aggressive play against them.
With 1:30 to play in the second quarter, Young dribbled at the top of the key and where Hornets forward Josh Green picked him up. As Green leaned in to take the ball away, Young ripped through and drew the foul for three free throws, giving him five so far.
“The shots he was getting earlier, I thought he was taking good shots,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “He was turning down some of those shots in the second half and keeping his dribble on and finding people.”
But he eventually went on to take 16 more free throws, finishing the night with a career-high 21 free-throws. He scored a game-high 35 points, had seven rebounds and 12 assists to finish with a league-best 39th double-double.
2. Young hasn’t had the most efficient stretch as of late, making just 39% of his shots leading into Wednesday’s game. But he has been getting to the line, even making 47 consecutive free throws before missing his 48th attempt in the win over the Pacers on March 8.
“I don’t know how many of you guys are aware that Trae was in a position last game to break a free throw record,” Snyder said. “And, it was a situation where the probability of us losing the game if you made it was incredibly low. That said he hit a half-court shot this year, and you never know what happens. So he missed that free throw, and that impacted his streak, but he started another one.”
Kyle Korver set the Hawks franchise record for consecutive made free throws, making 50 straight in 2014.
3. The Hawks played Wednesday’s game against the Hornets without Clint Capela, who missed the action because of family reasons. So, Dominick Barlow, who the team recently signed to a multiyear contract, came off the bench and showed why it was a good idea for the Hawks to do so.
“I prepare regardless of if I think I’m gonna play, if I know I’m gonna play, if I know I’m not gonna play, it doesn’t matter,” Barlow said.
He played every possession at 100%, handling switches onto smaller guards like LaMelo Ball and disrupted the Hornets’ game in plenty of different ways. He proved a source of frustration for the likes of Ball and Jusuf Nurkic.
Barlow finished with nine points, three rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals.
4. Nothing like a mid-March divisional game to fan the flames of a rivalry.
Ball and Terance Mann went back and forth all through the game with Ball getting a chase-down block on Mann’s look at the rim in the second quarter. But Mann got his lick back on Ball when hit a layup in transition then flexed on Ball while doing the “too small gesture.” Ball returned with a 3 on the other end and did the same gesture to Mann as they ran to the other end.
Georges Niang did not hide his own displeasure with Ball bumping him after a the Hawks took the ball out of the net. The Hawks forward was very animated after a 3 in transition.
5. The Hawks have in the past not had the best of luck against the Hornets and have fallen into the trap of playing to their level. But the Hawks handled business against a team ranked 14th in the Eastern Conference.
The win and the Heat’s loss to the Clippers gave the Hawks another bit of separation and created a stronger hold on the seventh seed.
Stat to know
6 - Trae Young became just the sixth player in NBA history to shoot 21 or more free throws in a game without missing one.
Quotable
“That’s what I do. I mean, I know how to score.” -- Trae Young on getting to the free-throw line.
Up next
The Hawks wrap their homestand on Friday against former Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic and the Clippers.
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