Hawks’ Ejiofor flashes 3-point shooting, takeaways from defeat of Thunder

Thunder center Aday Mara had 10 points, nine rebounds and one assist.

-- The Hawks believed they could develop Ejiofor’s jumper. The rookie attempted a few in his debut on Saturday even though they didn’t fall. That didn’t dampen his confidence, and the 22-year-old let his shot fly on Monday.

The Thunder kept leaving Ejiofor open on the perimeter, and when the ball swung his way, he didn’t pass up the look.

Ejiofor knocked down his first 3 with five seconds left in the second quarter. It came in a Hawks scoring flurry that allowed them to pull the game within seven before the end of the first half.

He hit his next two 3s, roughly 90 seconds apart, to extend the Hawks’ lead to 74-67 with 3:17 to play in the game.

-- Newell got lost early in the night’s game after an early dunk in the first quarter. But he found his way in the third quarter, as the Hawks continued a 25-2 run that saw them erase a 20-point deficit between the second and third quarter.

The 20-year-old just couldn’t find the right spacing, going a little quiet in the second quarter. He didn’t even attempt a shot.

But Newell got active in the third quarter, attacking the glass and finding Henri Veesaar for a layup, then hitting a triple 40 seconds later. He hit a hook shot a minute later, before finding Isaac McKneely for a 3.

Newell’s aggression picked up later in the game after a spin move to get his defender off, before hitting a reverse layup through two defenders.

-- The Hawks have found themselves a steadying presence in their rookie guard. When the Hawks opened the game, they trailed the Thunder 6-5 when Flemings went to the bench with 4:42 to play in the first quarter. Then the Thunder went on a 20-6 run.

But Flemings returned to start the second quarter, and the 19-year-old began generating some of the Hawks’ offense. He directed the Hawks’ actions that helped them space the floor better, and they finally began to chip away at the deficit.