The Hawks just took Round One in Washington...

The Hawks just took round one in Washington versus the Wizards on the road in the division and this is the kind of result that you like to see that sets the tone early. We're going to break down everything that worked for the Hawks, what it means for Atlanta moving forward and of course this is win number two in a row now for our Atlanta Hawks of course taking care of the Indiana Pacers and now taking care of the Washington Wizards. And Wizards had AD, Wizards had Sarr, Wizards had Aiden, Wizards had DeBanza. The Hawks didn't have Jalen Johnson for the second game in a row, and I'll go ahead and point that out early, but still was able to take care of business in this game. And we got post-game here. Post-game thoughts. We're going to get into it momentarily, but I have to let you guys know, of course, that this video is sponsored by our favorites right over there at Kalshi and Kalshi with this, of course. Y'all already know how these sport books do us, y'all. They just want to rob us of our funds, take it away from us, never give it back, never give us the opportunity to win anything. But not at Kalshi, because at Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users like you versus me. Not those traditional sport books. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events and of, like, sports that we all love. Politics, if you're into the election of what recently happened, could have won you some funds as well. So if you're interested in Kalshi, you see that code, that promo code right there, Digest NBA, make sure that you're putting it in or if you're not getting it there, get it out of the link in the description, the pinned comment. Add $55 to your account instantly when you trade your first 25 when you mess with Kalshi, guys. And make sure as well, not just also for Kalshi, man, if y'all are fooling with the channel, Digest, you know some media sports, make sure that you guys are checking out our site as well, Digest Sports, where you can get some info over there as well from us and from the Digest Media family all the way around. So, yes. Let's get into it. Let's get into it. Yes, sir. I'm going to talk about him shortly as well. But Hawks versus Wizards. Sir, yes, sir, we Bob. You're taking round one against these Wizards, man. And again, this right here was interesting because I was wondering how would the Atlanta Hawks play? Would they play their style of basketball? Would there be any kind of emotions? You know, some dealing with Trey Young. But, of course, they was on the road in Washington. Now, Friday. You never know, it could be a little bit different. But in this game, it started out really early for the Atlanta Hawks calling timeout. I think it was a good timeout, to be honest, which you know from Quinn Snyder, because early on, you know, I've seen these guys talking about the Washington Wizards, the size, and they was actually getting out into some pace and some rhythm at first, you know, causing some trouble for the Atlanta Hawks. And I thought that was a good timeout when it was the 8-3. Right there because of course the Atlanta Hawks were able to come out of the timeout and then they dropped Back-to-back points, you know some back-to-back threes One was from Onyeka Okongwu and then next thing, you know, the Atlanta Hawks were able to take the lead, you know So the timeout definitely helped Something to be noted about, you know, something that you definitely saw in this game, and that was Kingston Flemings in the starting lineup. I thought it was very interesting. And just when I was about to give Coach Quinn Snyder his credit and say, are you changing something different? Like, what was going on? Is this the same Quinn that we all know? But come to find out, it's actually coming from the veteran, C.J. McCullough. CJ McCollum was the one who actually suggested that Kingston Fleming should start so I have to give a big round of applause and shout out to CJ McCollum for that just off the top because not a lot of guys do that. Not a lot of veterans do that. I mean you go all the way back to movies that had to do with basketball you never see the guy who is starting no matter how long he's been starting. Want to or give an opportunity to a younger guy or a guy who is behind him. Even with the females, I mean, if you think about it, with love and basketball, all that stuff, you know, never let a rookie take your slot. All that good stuff like that, like, it's a real thing out here. So, with that being said, I have to give a shout out to CJ McCollum. CJ, to me, actually looked a little bit more fresher off the bench. Coming off, you know, being able to knock down shots, being able to orchestrate, he actually looked a little bit more fresher, if you ask me. But regardless, you know, I said, so shout out to him back to the game. Just a few more things that I had just noticed in the first quarter that really the first half was mostly like up and down. It was a lot of. Keep away, because the Atlanta Hawks will get a lead, they'll get cut down, but especially more so in the second half. Really, this was a complete game of keep away. The Atlanta Hawks really came out fresh, came out fast, and Washington really didn't, were able to recover fully, I believe. They tried. They were chipping, chipping, chipping, but the Atlanta Hawks, I feel like in this game, they were able to, you know, keep that arm extended and play keep away for the most part. Timely shots as I'm going to illustrate just different things I'm going to point out in this particular game because I mean the Hawks youth, I believe that was something that was a point of emphasis. The energy on both ends from the Hawks youth coming off the bench was big. The Hawks were able to run off a nine point lead with pace, space and turnovers against the Washington Wizards and then they went up to a 41 to 32 lead. That right there shouldn't just be taken lightly because, again, you have these guys who are able to take advantage of these things. You know, in the first quarter, of course, we finished that off 37-32. Then, of course, the second quarter, we start rolling right into it, even though Washington did come back. And I'll talk about how Washington ended that half, and I didn't like how the Atlanta Hawks did that. But one thing about it, Kingston Flemmons, he looked good. To start the game in the first early four minutes, you know, sometimes you want to see how things go. But around with 10-13 left in the second quarter, he still was looking good with all the starters. And he was getting into the lane at will. I feel like that was something that was honestly a story all night. It wasn't like Trey was going to stop Kingston Flemings from getting into the lane. Into the lane. Now, Trey did some veteran moves. You know, since I've seen him against Kingston Flemings, also was able to do the pick and roll. Catch screens, even catch a couple steals and everything like that. So, I mean, Trey is the veteran between the two, but he wasn't stopping Kingston Fleming from getting to that lead, that lane, and really no one else was either. By the way, Hawks at the 9-20 mark of the second quarter was already 9 of 17 from the three-point line, and it was up 46 to 32. So that right there just lets you know that the Atlanta Hawks shot. We're still making it. Atlanta Hawks the past two games have seemed to found that three-point shooting stroke in us. And so I'm hoping that that continues. I know sometimes you live by the sword and you die by it as well. But so we're going to see how long we're going to be able to live again. Even when Trey came with an off-balance three. It was really good seeing that the Atlanta Hawks were able to come right back down with Kingston Flemings to knock down a three to push the lead again to 51-38. And the Hawks were already up to 14 assists at that particular time, with seven minutes and 37 seconds left to go in the second quarter. So right there, that was already one of those omens. That was just looking real good, and I have to continue to give the Hawks youth of, at that time, Asa Newell, Wiggins coming off the bench, and Zuby. Zuby had came off the bench as well around the same time that Asa did, and that was around the end of the first quarter. And I was like, wow, Asa and Zuby, you know what I'm saying? These guys are getting some minutes. That was a good thing to see. I was proud to see it. So I will give Coach Quinn. I'm not sure if somebody influenced him to do that, too. But if not, you know what I'm saying, I give Coach Quinn at least his credit in that regard, even if CJ suggested the starting thing for Kingston Plymouth. Now, real quick, as far as I said, the Hawks' three-point shooting was really a difference in the first half, but not just their three-point shooting. They're all offensive rebounds. Going to get into that as well, man, because that's a very big point of emphasis that I do not want to overlook at all. Um, so. I want to talk about how the Atlanta Hawks, you know, ended the first half. Okay, so you had a loose ball. The Atlanta Hawks able to get, you know, send some offensive rebounds again. CJ hitting another big three at that particular time. It was 68 to 52 Hawks. Okay, at one point in time to where you saw at the end of that half, after we got to 68 points, we were stuck at 68 points for the rest of the half. Now, we went, the Hawks went, ended the quarter with five missed shots slash layups because Dort tried to up and under, but it was a tough shot anyway, and the defense was right there. It was actually about three, maybe three wizard players right there when he tried to attempt that. So it definitely will lay up. But also, they had two turnovers to end the half as well. Washington was able to take advantage of that. Trey Young was actually single-handedly able to get a couple plays off of the Atlanta Hawks. They were able to get a steal off Kingston Plymouth first off a pass that he had. And then after that, had an and one, you know, so making it 61, you know, saying 68 at that particular time. And the Wizards had went on a 9-0 run to end that half. That had concerned me at that particular time just because I'm like, okay, the Wizards, I already knew coming into it. The past couple of games, the Wizards have been finding ways to outscore their opponents in the third quarter. And I know that sometimes the adjustments aren't necessarily fully there or at least fully able to engage like the Atlanta Hawks and Coach Quinn would like them to do initially. Um... And honestly, it's been death quarter over the past couple of seasons for the Atlanta Hawks when you talk about the third. So it definitely was a concern. But the Atlanta Hawks were able to weather. They were able to weather that storm. And as you see here, for the entire game, the Atlanta Hawks were still able to win every particular quarter. Points in the paint, they didn't win that. And normally, that is something that hurts the Atlanta Hawks tremendously when they don't win the points in the paint. Fast breaks, you know what I'm saying, Washington was trying to match pace with the Atlanta Hawks, you know what I'm saying, the entire game. So that's one thing that I can't overlook, but the Atlanta Hawks still was able to win that. Bench points, that's an area that you've got to circle, guys, because the bench points being 52-16, that takes pressure not only off the offensive players on the starting lineup, but it puts the added pressure on the starters for the other team as well that have to continue to score. When you have more so of a team aspect going on. Again, like I said, the youth off the bench. That's another reason why you have that. You had Asa Newell, who actually went out of the game with a hyperextended toe, y'all. Yeah, that just sounds just painful, okay? I don't ever want to experience it. I've stuck my toe before. But hyperextend, that's just another level that I don't ever want to experience. So, speedy recovery retired ASAP, man. Whew, that sounds, it's just tough even just, man. Okay, but either way it goes, the turnover battle, the Hawks have 15. I don't like that. That's another reason why I know it was only 15, y'all, but I'm just saying, though, if the Hawks, you know, sort of kept that down to maybe 10 or 9, something like that, they win by more points than even, yes, even more than 120 to 105. Now, I'm happy with the... I'm just, I may be nitpicking right there, but again, I don't like when the Hawks, you know, have that many high of turnovers. Even though when it doesn't lead to a loss, it's just, you don't want to start creating a bad habit. Alright, so, you know, it's a 12 by the Washington Wizards, and the points off turnovers, they did match. But, man, the Atlanta Hawks, again, even in the second half, man, the Atlanta Hawks were still able to navigate, And that's why I started saying feeling like they continue to like. Stretched that hand out and been able to keep the Washington Withers away. All in the third quarter, Washington was able to try to come back. They were chipping away, chipping away. 5-0 runs here, 5-0 runs there. But the Atlanta Hawks, the three were still favoring the Hawks. And man, you can even see it right here on the screen. The Hawks were turned up to be 19 for 49 from behind the three-point line. But it was just the timely threes. You were up 80-74, 5-0 run by the Wizards, right? All of a sudden, here comes Nall for three. Began making it 83-74. Next thing you know, Wizards go on another 5-0 run. They're like, hold on, bro, we ain't coming away. That's 83-79, right? Then next thing you know, boom, out of nowhere, Corey Kispert comes in, four-point play, 87-79, and that was only with 1:57 left in the third quarter. Then next thing you know, you have Zuby, who again had energy on both ends of the floor, and you love to see it. I feel like his energy was infectious as well out there. He was real eager. He played. Very well, very well. You know, I said 11 points for Zuby, three rebounds and two assists, four of six from the field, one of three from the three-point line. He did try to knock down a couple of those. At the end of the day, you know, you could get a little better at the free throw line. I mean, you don't want to nitpick. Zuby had a great game. I ain't going to lie to you. I love the energy off the bench. He had a monster dunk as well, too. In fast break and transition to make it 91-85 again, the Wizards kept trying to chip away, kept trying to chip away, but at the end of the third quarter, it was 93-85 Hawks. Fourth quarter was more of the same. You had Wiggins who was continuously showing why he's one of the best off the bench, knocking down shots, knocking down middies, and then Corey Kispert continued to come alive, bringing that energy. I had a layup and a three-point play as well. Uh, it just, again, that particular time the Hawks went up 1-on-1 to 87. Then is when you start seeing the wheels kind of come off a little bit. For the Washington Wizards, I know AD, he went back to the locker room for a minute because I know he tweaked his ankle really at the beginning of the game. Um, probably like a little bit after the timeout, I believe, is when he did that. Initially when the Atlanta Hawks were down 8-3. So he battled the entire game, but he had to go back to the locker room. Trey tried to turn up a little bit on the Atlanta Hawks, One thing about it, every time that the Wizards were actually trying to come back, working on coming back, they would miss shots, and they wouldn't be able to get the offensive rebound. But the Hawks, they would miss shots, and they would continuously get the offensive rebound. You gotta love that type of stuff right there, man. You gotta love it. I'm going to also... Highlight the fact that the Atlanta Hawks did have 19, 19 of those 57 rebounds were offensive rebounds and we needed every single one of them. You don't normally see that. I'm going to keep it real with you. You don't normally see that. I'm hoping it's not an anomaly. I'm hoping it's something that we're building off of because I said before the season started, especially from our bigs, or if you're going to do it by committee, okay, everybody has to sell into it, or excuse me, buy into it, and to what you're selling about rebounding. Everyone has to do it in order for the Atlanta Hawks to be a better team and to win games like this. By this margin, you have to be able to give yourself extra second chance points, extra possessions, because what do the Atlanta Hawks like to do? They like to shoot that three. And I can even give you some more points and facts that goes with that as well. Here you go right here. A lot of what the Hawks, they shoot comes from the corners. You've seen a lot of corner threes, especially I know Wiggins, he tears that corner up. For one point in particular, I told you guys a couple of games ago about his hot shooting spots as well. So that's one guy that in particular, they are 11th in the NBA in share of shots from the money zones, rim plus corner threes, 41.3% of attempts. Their offense is built on kicking out to the shooters, something that they do often, and for a minute in the beginning of the game, you were seeing that the Wizards were trying to claw out the paint. The Hawks didn't care. They started letting it fly, as Coach Quinn likes to say. One of the league's heaviest spot-up teams, fourth in frequency, 28.5% on possessions. Yes, handoffs are the last thing here. Hand-offs are definitely a staple of what the Atlanta Hawks run. One of the league's heaviest hand-off teams. Fourth in frequency. 7.5% of possessions. So, Atlanta Hawks like to do what they like to do. You know? So, those are some of the things that they like to do that contribute to this win. And contribute to a lot of the wins that they have this season. You I also will say this before I move on to the stars of the game, man. It does feel nice even though it's small. know It feels nice to be able to be a part of this win streak. You know I'm saying a click right here. Right now the Atlanta Hawks are at the bottom but this is the longest active streak right now. you. The Atlanta Hawks able to get their second one especially after being able to fend off these Washington Wizards. Dyson Daniels. Shout out to Dyson. He had like seven offensive rebounds himself. And I love guards that rebound. I'm sorry. I know a lot of I know his shot. His shot doesn't be there as far as like the three point three pointer because a couple of times he did get left alone. It was a time when he passed and there's another time when he did shoot the three and he was left alone on purpose. He was. But regardless, Atlanta, like I said, able to continue to fend off these Washington Wizards for this big win. It was a display of young talent on both ends of the floor. But, you know, it's an Atlanta Hawks mixed in with the veterans. They were able to take care of business. The Flemings, I feel like, overall, had a great game. And let's just get to the stars. The stars of the game, baby. Who showed up? Who was bright? I got to talk about the young king, King Flim, because he was on the Washington's ASS all night. Let's go, man. 14 points, three rebounds, four assists, being able to facilitate to others. But I'm so glad that Kingston was not passive. At first, Kingston was passive, y'all. I ain't going to lie. Kingston was passive. But I'm glad somebody went over there and talked to him, maybe CJ, maybe the coach, maybe a mixture of both, maybe a mixture of all the teammates together, and said, hey, young fella, go after it and go get it. Take advantage of your opportunities. Those oppos count, and he made them count. 14 points for King Flim. I said three of rebounds, four assists. Only, you know, I said plus minus. If you care about that stuff, you see the negative one. But my thing that I cared about was the fact that he was efficient. Six of nine from the field. Knocking down both of his threes. Looking really good knocking down the three too. And 23 close to 24 minutes. No steals, no blocks. That's fine. You know, it's only two turnovers for his entire game. You take that against, you know, a team like Washington who, honestly, the past few games, even with Trae Young in the lineup, has been one of the better defensive teams. And I told you about what they do in the third quarter. They've been outscoring their opponents in the third quarter as well. But that all being said, Kingston Flemmons, I feel like overall had a very good game of controlling the tempo, controlling himself, not trying to do too much, playing within the game, playing within himself, getting his teammates involved, allowing his teammates to operate, and again, not to just try to do too much, man. He orchestrated the game very well for his first game as a starter. For being a rookie, I understand as well. There's not a lot of film on Kingston Flemmons. There's not a lot of film on him starting. So at the same time, I know as the time goes on, we'll see if adjustments are made by other teams and by him, especially if he's continuing to get that starting nod, which I think he should. I'm not afraid to pull the trigger on Kingston Flemmons starting now. I'm not, because I did like that CJ came off the bench, and he looked fresher. He did, and a guy that's 35 years of age, bucket or not, you need energy to be able to score those buckets, correct? So, you know, that's where I'm going with that, man. I'm liking what Kingston Flemmons were doing. Shout out to Kingston in this particular game. Next guy that is up for me, Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Now, I don't know what we would be without you sometimes. Because, of course, you know you had to take on more scoring responsibilities. J.J. missing his second straight game. 26 points for Nall. Another six threes to add to the nine that he had against the Pacers. So, Nickeil Alexander-Walker absolutely tearing it up from the three-point line. Three rebounds, two assists. Again, the plus minus is the negative, but he put up a lot of shots tonight. Almost 50%. He was 45%, 9 of 20 from the field. So, love the fact that he knocked down both of his free throws. It's free. We want to see it in 32 minutes. Three turnovers, but at the end of the day, Nick was trying to do a lot to keep the Atlanta Hawks afloat. And every one of his three felt very timely. It felt like when we needed some points to just keep on keeping them away, Nick showed up. So Nick coming in, being the scorer that he is, honestly just... Coming in and really keeping, I said, the Hawks afloat, JJ not out, so if you consider him to be the Robin, well, he looks more like Nightwing, the older version, you know what I'm saying, the more polished and mature version, you know what I'm saying, of the Robin, and, um, or should, or Dick Grayson, for those who are all into that. Either way it goes, man, uh, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, you appreciate what he did tonight, the same way as you gotta appreciate what this guy's been doing off of the bench, okay? 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists for Aaron Wiggins who continuously coming off the bench scoring yet another game guys like 8 games in and this guy has double digits in every single one of them. 6 of 14 for the field. 29 points because, hey, he earns those minutes. Two steals, one block, two turnovers, but three of seven from the three-point line, plus 15 for those who care about that. Four rebounds, two assists, man. Aaron Wiggins saving basketball in Atlanta. I'm sorry, man. Like, at the end of the day, I know he couldn't get a lot of burn. And OKC, they had a lot of people. This guy's making a claim for... Not only sixth man of the year, I feel like he's going to make a claim for the most improved player award as well. So shout out to Aaron Wiggins. Shout out to the Atlanta Hawks as well. I just give a couple of guys their flowers. I talked about Nikhil Alexander Walker and this game was actually with his first three pointer in this particular game. Nikhil Alexander Walker is only appearing only appeared in his 87th game as a as a Hawk. And he still was able to break a tie with Jamal Crawford for 282 three-point field goals made. That's 19th on Hawks' all-time three-point list. Ah, already. And he's only in, like I said, 87 games in and already 19th on the list. Also, shout-out to C.J. McCollum. Again, I told you about what he did for our rook. And he also netted his 16,961st career point. And it honestly moved him past Bob Cousy on the NBA's all-time scoring list. So that was 112th on the all-time scoring list. So shout out to C.J. McCollum getting closer to the top 100. It did. Again, I told you guys about Asa Newell. I was looking to see if I seen anything else about it. Not anything yet, so apparently there's going to be some more MRIs going on and we'll know more about it. Dyson Daniels, he had over 10 rebounds tonight, and that was his 20th career game and with double digits as far as boards go. His first of the season, love guards that rebound. Nickeil Alexander-Walker also secured his 35th career game with five triples, with at least five triples. Dyson Daniels. 13 rebounds and 5 assists. His 13 boards matched a career high, but he was not done. Because Dyson Daniels, as you see right here, if you just look at Dyson Daniels' stats, with the 17 rebounds, guys, that right there is a career high for Dyson Lamar Daniels. I got to call him Lamar on that because, come on now, those rebounds. That right there, not only did he have 17 rebounds tonight guys, he had a career high and that was also the most by a guard in a single game in Atlanta franchise history. So Dyson Daniels making franchise history. Not a lot in the point column. I get it. Only three points, but come on man. You can't just, I mean, I'm only, excuse me, not 3.3 fouls, but he had 8 points, but come on now, 17 guys, 17 rebounds, and he still had 8 assists. Man was this close to a freaking triple-double, quietly at that. So I'm just saying at the end of the day, that still contributed to winning, and you can't overlook that. On Onyeka Okongwu, I didn't say too much about you, but I will admit, you had an efficient night tonight, 5 of 9, 14 and 16 for double O. That was another quiet game because he got overshadowed by a lot of stuff that other guys were doing. Complete team win is what this was tonight, guys. Complete team win. I'm all here for it. Shout out to the Atlanta Hawks for winning this game. Because they could have easily went into Washington and laid an egg. We've been on this kind of like a little seesaw. Let's see if we can build off of it. Come back to the A where everything should hopefully be okay. And take care of the Washington Wizards. It's in a bigger stage. More things are on the line because you have the Emirates NBA Cup matchup between the two teams. And we want to take that first game so we can try to see if we can get a little something in the tournament as well. But until next time, peace and blessings to you all Hawks fans. And I will holler. Let's go Hawks.