The Atlanta Hawks have won their tenth straight game. Anything less than a postseason berth is a dissapointment.
If they continue to play like tonight, though, they might even be able to win a postseason series.
The Hawks have to surpass the 76ers, Heat and Raptors for a chance at a top-six playoff seed and a guaranteed berth in the postseason. Tonight’s win draws them equal with Philly in the win column and leaves them one or two games shy of Miami or Toronto. It’s going to be hard to catch Toronto, but there’s no reason that the Hawks can’t put themselves in the seventh seed with a little bit of luck and a lot of consistent basketball. So far, that’s exactly what they’ve shown over the past ten games.
Tonight’s win wasn’t entirely a wire-to-wire domination as the Magic made it a bit more respectable by the end. However, the Hawks dominated the game for most of it and they got huge performances from Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels to power them towards a critical win versus a team they might see in the play-in.
Sublime Starting Five To Start
The Hawks basically ran the Magic off the floor in the first half due to the synergy of their starters. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the way with 24 points, but Dyson Daniels almost had a double-double in the first half with nine points and seven assists. Jalen Johnson actually took some time to get going, turning it over as many times (3) almost as many times as he found his teammates for assists (4). Even so, his 10 points and six rebounds, punctuated by a huge dunk on a pass from CJ McCollum, were vital towards the Hawks’ commanding lead. McCollum and Okongwu weren’t as impressive as the other three starters, but they finished the first half as a +16 and + 11 respectively.
Their first-half performance played a huge role in establishing an early tone for this game and the starters never really let up until the game felt out of reach for the Magic.
(Everyone) Defends Like Dyson
The entirety of the Hawks’ long-term struggles on defense shouldn’t be blamed on Trae Young. However, it is true that the Hawks have been much better on defense since the All-Star break. Since the All-Star break, Atlanta has led the NBA in defensive rating (104.6) and defensive rebounding percentage (76.3%). They are fifth in opponent points per game (106.5), fifth in opponent three-point attempts (33.8 attempts) and eighth in opponent three-point percentage (34.4%).
Tonight was further evidence of that idea. They held Orlando to under 30% from deep and under 40% from the field as a team. The mentality of “team defense” was evident in the way that they silenced Desmond Bane for most of the night. There were certainly times that their rotations looked disorganized, but they adjusted well to the Magic’s pace and got back on track. Dyson Daniels has sometimes looked like the only competent defender on the team for the Hawks, but he got a lot of help tonight.
Night-Night Nickeil
It seems incredible that Nickeil Alexander-Walker somehow isn’t the best basketball player in his own family because he was sensational for the Hawks tonight. He punished several lazy rotations from Orlando’s hapless defense, finishing with 24 points and five threes in the first half alone. Alexander-Walker has proved that he’s more than worth the contract the Hawks signed him to this offseason. He kept it going when the Hawks needed it, hitting two big dagger threes to seal the win and punctuated his night with a career-high 41 points and final line of nine threes.
Lost in the context of his incredible scoring performance were the six rebounds and five assists, as well as solid defense, that NAW contributed towards the Hawks’ win tonight. It’s easy to make the case that he’s the third-most important member of this team and performances like tonight show why he can be a second option on certain nights if necessary. He does everything for this team and it’ll be fun to see what he can do as part of this Hawks playoff push.
Two-Way JJ
Jalen Johnson is obviously a great offensive player due to his explosive rim pressure, outlier shooting for a power forward and rare passing chops. Fans saw it tonight with his 24 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists. However, his defensive effort and awareness is something that hasn’t really been there as he’s adjusted to a larger offensive role.
Tonight provided evidence for the idea that Johnson can be a capable defender in a postseason setting. He took the primary matchup on Paolo Banchero and played a huge role in limiting him to 18 points on 3-13 shooting from the field. Banchero drew a lot of contact, but he wasn’t really able to create consistent offense against JJ in the halfcourt. It changed the complexion of Atlanta’s defense because they didn’t have to keep Daniels on Banchero, allowing him to rotate between Desmond Bane, Wendell Carter Jr and Jalen Suggs when needed.
Don’t Focus On the Fourth
The final score will say that the Hawks won this game by “only” 12 points. However, they held a 20+ point lead for a significant portion of this game and the only reasons it was close were entirely self-inflicted. The Hawks got sloppy in the fourth quarter, only scoring five points on 2-12 shooting at one point in the frame. However, NAW bailed them out with two big threes and the Magic gave up quickly after that.
The bench still needs to play better. Jonathan Kuminga has yet to show that he can contribute to this lineup with winning basketball – he was not good tonight. Corey Kispert continues to be a problem on both ends when he’s not on a hot streak and the right amount of Zaccharie Risacher for this team is something Quin Snyder needs to figure out sooner rather than later. However, it’s hard to be exceedingly critical when the Hawks bring a two-way effort of tonight’s caliber.
They’ll get a rest day tomorrow before taking on a Mavericks team chasing the lottery balls once again that sets them up for a good test game against the Rockets this Friday.
