We’re seeing the Hawks play as successfully as they almost ever have in their 58 seasons in Atlanta.
Before Wednesday night’s game at Orlando, the 16-2 stretch that they put together through Monday’s home win over the Boston Celtics, for instance, is something the franchise has accomplished in just six different seasons in Atlanta, according to Stathead.
What tickles coach Quin Snyder and general manager Onsi Saleh is that it has been the product of a process to create a culture that could generate these results. And what’s even more hopeful for the Hawks is that it’s not unreasonable to think that there’s even more ahead.
It may well be that the Hawks are taking only their first steps toward — dare we think it — legitimately challenging for championships.
The remarkable facet of the team’s performance since the All-Star break is how it’s been accomplished with so many new pieces, namely guards CJ McCollum and Gabe Vincent, forwards Jonathan Kuminga and Corey Kispert and center Jock Landale.
“The new guys have been really good for us coming in, not just on the floor but in the locker room, as well, building chemistry, in team meetings, really speaking up,” guard Dyson Daniels said after the Hawks’ home win over Boston Monday night. “I think our team’s just gelling really well at the moment. Guys know their role now, everyone’s out there playing really hard, playing defense. We know what it takes to win games now. It’s just about doing that night in and night out.”
The third quarter, when the Hawks took control of the game, revealed moments pointing to that defensive cohesion.
With the team getting hammered on the glass in the first half, center Onyeka Okongwu contributed only one rebound in the quarter but did things like muscle Celtics players out of position so teammates could collect the ball. Kuminga stepped in front of Celtics star guard Jaylen Brown to take a charge. He also helped out on a switch to challenge Boston guard Payton Pritchard’s shot in the paint, leading to a miss and Hawks rebound.
After Kuminga was beaten off the dribble down the baseline by guard Hugo González, Okongwu left his man to block González’s shot. When Brown tried to drive on Vincent, forward Zaccharie Risacher sneaked in and poked away the ball, leading to a hurried and missed shot by Brown.
It was the picture of team defense and a reflection of the buy-in that Snyder has elicited from his changing roster. The Hawks were 17th in the league in points allowed per 100 possessions before the All-Star break at 116, according to Cleaning the Glass. Going into Wednesday’s game, they were third since the break (108.7).
The selflessness is what has made this team work, further evidenced by the Hawks leading the NBA in assists at 30.3 per game going into Wednesday’s game.
“They’re a team that plays the right way and is very well-coached,” Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernández said in March. “Having those high-level playmakers, you have so many guys that can do it. It’s not just like one guy creating and everyone else finishing.”
It is starting with the highest of the high-level playmakers, All-Star forward Jalen Johnson.
“I think that when you have a star like J.J. wanting to facilitate, it kind of becomes contagious,” Landale told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in March. “We have a lot of guys who are willing passers and happy to make the best available play for the team. I think that’s kind of been something that’s been talked a lot since I’ve been here. That’s rare.”
The core of Johnson, Daniels and Most Improved Player candidate Nickeil Alexander-Walker isn’t going anywhere. You’d have to think that the Hawks will want to retain McCollum, a pending free agent. Risacher is starting to thrive in his role coming off the bench. The Hawks have a club option for next year for Kuminga, whose acquisition by trade with Golden State looks better with each passing game.
And the club holds New Orleans’ first-round pick, which as of Wednesday afternoon had a 32% chance of being a top-four selection, according to Tankathon.
There is little chance that Saleh will dare disrupt the chemistry that has been established with a boat-rocking trade or signing. Counting on the continued development of the core and the benefits of keeping it together are his likely course.
And if that has been good enough for a 16-2 stretch, brighter days as this group stays together seem likely. It remains difficult to envision this path for a franchise that has tenaciously clung to mediocrity. But it is becoming easier.
You can now get my column sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter here.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
