ATLANTA -- The Hawks moved two games above .500 and clinched a spot in the play-in tournament with their 134-116 win over the Wizards Wednesday night at State Farm Arena.
Here are five observations:
1. For the second game in a row, the Hawks stamped down on their opponent’s runs to get back into the game. The Hawks built a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter.
The Hawks (41-39) traveled back from Chicago after playing the Bulls a night earlier. Despite a slow start to the night, the Hawks did not look like a team on the second night of back-to-back games.
On the offensive end, the Hawks moved the ball and attacked the basket to get guys open. The Hawks knocked down seven 3-pointers in the first quarter and that allowed them to stay in the game early as the Wizards racked up points in the paint.
The Hawks are 10-3 on the first night of back-to-back games and 3-10 on the second.
By then end of the night, the Hawks made 13 of their 30 3-point attempts and their shooting from outside allowed them to slow down runs by the Wizards throughout the game.
“We’re beginning to understand how important spacing is,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “It’s allows you to play together and we’re spacing throughout possessions, particularly in the beginning of a possession where it gets us moving the ball ahead and teams have to guard you more from the early part of the possession, (through) second actions.”
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2. That carried over onto the defensive end particularly in the third quarter. The Hawks held the Wizards to 1-of-9 shooting from outside and forced them to go inside where the Hawks’ front court was ready.
The Hawks’ aggression hurt them a little as the Wizards stayed in the game as they tried to feed big man Daniel Gafford. The Wizards center made all seven of his free-throw attempts as he went on to score 25 points while pulling down 10 rebounds.
Gafford shouldered a lot of the scoring with the Wizards down four of the usual starters. He did have help from rookie Johnny Davis, who scored 20 points and had seven rebounds, as well as Kendrick Nunn and Jay Huff who scored 15 points and 14 points respectively, off the bench.
But the Hawks held the Wizards under 50% overall shooting. It was the second straight game the Hawks did so.
3. The Hawks continued to have a huge lift from their bench despite missing Bogdan Bogdanovic. The team aims to be cautious with his injury management.
Bogdanovic had averaged 24.6 minutes per game in 18 games since the All-Star break, playing more than 30 minutes in a night on just four occasions prior to Tuesday’s game. But he played 33 minutes against the Bulls and Snyder said the team wanted to be smart.
So, the Hawks leaned on their young talent in Jalen Johnson, who scored a career-high 16 points on Tuesday and did so again on Wednesday. The Hawks got another 16 points from AJ Griffin, who tied his career-high in 3-pointers made with four.
“I think we all have just that drive to really make the most of it,” Griffin said.
Since the All-Star break, the Hawks have the second-highest scoring bench in the league, averaging 41.1 points per game.
4. With three straight wins under their belt, the Hawks have moved two games above .500. Part of what has helped them to get into a rhythm is the continued strong shooting of John Collins, who has shot 40% from 3 on four attempts per game over the last 15 games.
The 25-year-old scored 23 points and has given the Hawks huge lifts when he knocks down two or more 3s. The Hawks are 9-6 in that span and in seven of those wins, Collins knocked down at least 2 triples.
5. The Hawks need to solidify their seeding for the play-in. Their win over the Wizards gives them a one-game lead over the Raptors who fell to the Celtics. The team could clinch a spot in the 7/8 play-in game against the Heat or Nets with one more win or one more Raptors loss.
