It Just Keeps on Getting Better

It just keeps on getting better for the Atlanta Hawks. The Brooklyn Nets were in town at State Farm Arena to try to deny the Hawks their fourth straight win. And while the Nets led for the majority of the game, the Atlanta Hawks had the last laugh. Welcome back to Hawks Digest. My name is Michael Kaburinsky and as we dive into tonight's video we're going to be recapping the Hawks fourth yes fourth straight win a comeback gutsy victory over the Brooklyn Nets tonight and this was a game where normally you know over the over this win streak the Hawks have been absolutely shooting the lights out from three-point range tonight they did not have their three-point shot going and they really went inside and They did their business in the paint, and that's how they were able to have enough offense ultimately to win this game. They did not start out this game really well, especially defensively. The Nets scored 37 points in the first quarter, 33 in the second, and the Hawks found themselves down early because of their defense. But slowly but surely, their offense picked it up, their defense in the second half really picked it up, and ultimately, that was what led them. To getting this comeback victory. They were down. 17 points at one point in this game and the Hawks didn't even have their first lead until the final inside the final three minutes of this game. But the only time that matters when you lead is when those clock when the clock hits double zero and the Hawks did that after the fourth quarter and that was how they came away with the victory. We're going to get into all of what transpired and all of the highlight performances all that kind of stuff. for both on both sides in this video but before we do that i've got to tell you about today's video sponsor and that is going to be our friends over at Kalshi and on Kalshi you're trading directly against other users it's not the house like other traditional sports books you're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of different events across sports politics even the weather they have there on Kalshi and for today's video i want to focus on the atlanta hawks next matchup That comes at State Farm Arena on Monday at 7 p.m. Eastern against the Los Angeles Lakers. And in my opinion, the clear MVP frontrunner in Luka Doncic. Luka has been absolutely unbelievable to start this season. And right now. The Hawks are trading at a 51% chance to win that matchup on Monday against the Lakers. The Lakers have been pretty good this season. 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So now's a great time to get in on the action at Kalshi, and once again, thank you to Kalshi for sponsoring tonight's video. All right, without further ado, let's head into some of the box scores for the Atlanta Hawks tonight. Tonight, this was really a game of... The three-point shot not being there, like I said in the intro, a lot of great two-point shooting for the Hawks in this game. And the first guy I want to focus on is none other than Jalen Johnson because he returned after that ankle sprain tonight. Obviously, he had missed the last three games after that ankle sprain in New Orleans, but he came back in a big way. 35 minutes, 30 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 11 of 17 from the field. 0 of 5 from deep, 8 of 10 from the free throw line. Now, that stat line is pretty funny in a couple ways because, you see, if you do the math, Jalen only missed one two-point shot the entire night. And that is a really good thing. That means he was getting into the paint and really just having his way inside. He was 0 of 5 from deep. So, obviously, he knew he had to get inside it because his shot wasn't working. And for Jalen Johnson, It's definitely been a slow start as far as his three-point shooting this season. But when you realize that the Brooklyn Nets defense has really struggled to start this season, you can go in there and you can get the points that way. And I think Jalen Johnson did a great job of that. Towards the end of the game in the fourth quarter, he was really strong in this game. In fact, in the fourth quarter alone, Jalen scored 12 of his 30 points, was four or five from the field, and he got six free throws attempts in that fourth quarter. So I thought his free throw shooting was a real, real bonus for the Hawks in this game. Now, it wasn't all great because defensively, I really do think Jalen Johnson struggled in this game, especially against Michael Porter Jr. Porter Jr., if we go to the Nets box score here real quick. Michael Porter Jr. finished this game leading his squad with 25 points and 9 rebounds. Now, 17 of those 25, or sorry, 18 of those 25 came in the first half. And there were a lot of tough shots that he makes. He's Michael Porter Jr. He's going to make some tough shots shooting over guys. It's going to happen. But I do think Jalen Johnson struggled. Defensively against him in that first half in the second half, I thought it was a bit better from not just Jalen Johnson, but from his the Hawks entire team in general, but I thought they did a great job of limiting Porter's impact in the second half, which was crucial to the win, because he started off hot from three, and you could see that by the box score, only finished three of 11 from downtown. So great adjustments, great defensive adjustments from the Hawks there on Michael Porter Jr. Another guy on the Nets that was really good in this game was the rookie Mikael Brown Jr., and in 25 minutes, Brown with 18 points, three assists, three of eight from three, five of 13 from the field. Mikael Brown hit a couple of really, really clutch threes in the fourth quarter to keep the Brooklyn Nets on top, and it took a 14-7 run from the Hawks in the final two minutes to ultimately close this game and seal the win for Atlanta, and it took that because Brown hit a couple of really deep threes. His drives were really good. Now, before the fourth quarter, I did feel like. His shot selection was pretty bad, and it was costing his team some offensive possessions during the course of the game. But in the fourth quarter, he was really good. And before that, it was Nolan Traoré from Brooklyn with 19 points, two assists, eight of 10 from the field, two of four from deep, and four steals. He had a really, really insane first half and didn't play as much in the second just because Mikael Brown Jr. got really hot there in the fourth quarter. But those two guys, I thought, were really, really impactful for the Nets. You also had Julius Randle with 19-7-8, 7-8. And speaking of Randle, Julius Randle threw an elbow at Onyeka Okongwu on the first play of the game. I'm not sure. I don't think it looked intentional, but it was kind of ridiculous to me that the officials didn't review it to see if it was a flagrant foul. And Onyeka Okongwu ended up being questionable with what the Hawks labeled as a throat contusion for the rest of the game. Obviously, he did end up coming back in later in the first quarter. And I thought... But offensively, I thought Onyeka Okongwu was really good in this game. 16 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 of 10 from the field, 2 of 6 from deep, 4 of 6 from the line. And look, Onyeka Okongwu's 3-point shot has been a big topic, big area of discussion this season. Obviously, through the first 5 or 6 games, it was a real, real struggle from deep for Okongwu. But the sample size is something that I stress a lot in basketball. And when you have Onyeka Okongwu... Improving his three shot every season. Last year, really establishing himself as one of the best stretch bigs in the game. I didn't think he just all of a sudden forgot how to shoot. And you're seeing that these last five to six games. He's really getting on pace, getting that three ball to go back. And he had a clutch three in the fourth quarter with about three minutes to go to give the Hawks in that Hawks closing run to give them. To give them a boost there. So I thought Okongwu overall offensively was really good. Especially after he took that elbow from Randle. He was on the ground for a long time. I was wondering if there was going to be any concussion there for Okongwu. Thankfully, there was not. And you do want to see his rebounds definitely be up there in this game. Only had two rebounds in this game. But this ends a streak of five double-digit rebounds for Okongwu. He can resume another streak next time. But I thought overall Onyeka was pretty good in this game. The next guy I want to go to, though, is none other than this guy right here, and that is going to be, honestly, probably my pick for sixth man of the year, Aaron Wiggins, because Aaron Wiggins in this game, another great offensive performance, 26 minutes, 20 points, 7 of 19 from the field, 5 of 13 from deep, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, was also 1 of 2 from the free throw line. I'll get his stats up right here as we talk about his performance. For Aaron Wiggins, he, he, these last two games, He didn't shoot the ball, obviously. He didn't knock the cover off of the ball from two-point range in this game, but the five of 13 from deep was absolutely huge for the Hawks because he was really the only guy who was efficient from there. Nickeil Alexander-Walker couldn't really find the range. Jalen Johnson didn't. Kingston Flemings didn't. C.J. McCollum struggled from deep. Luguent Stewart was one of three. So Aaron Wiggins' three-point shot was huge in this game. And while he struggled overall from the field, being 7-19 from the floor, Just the three-point volume was so good for the Hawks here, and I think these last two games, offensively, he's been great. Now, on the other side of the ball, there is a lot of question marks. I thought in last night's game against the Wizards, he left Trey Johnson open a lot. And tonight, there was definitely some moments of struggle for Aaron Wiggins defensively, just losing his man, losing an assignment, and allowing a drive to the rim or allowing an open three. So while Aaron Wiggins has been great offensively in the Hawks uniform, I do think there is definitely areas for him to improve defensively. And we've seen him be a good defender in OKC years before that. So I'm not necessarily worried that Wiggins has just turned into A terrible defender, but these last two games definitely have left a lot to be desired as far as his defense goes. So hopefully he can pick that back up while also becoming really one of the Hawks' best weapons offensively on this team. And for Wiggins, Quinn Snyder is really playing him more. Snyder switched Dyson Daniels and Aaron Wiggins on and off repeatedly throughout the last few minutes of this game for defense and offense substitutions, and I thought that was a great move. Aaron Wiggins. Overall, just the offense was really good because he was the only guy to hit threes. And then Dyson Daniels was a possession demon in this game. And he just continued, Dyson Daniels just continues to create possessions for the Hawks, whether it's second chance points, defensive rebounds, steals. In this game, another total box score performance with nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four and nine from the field, six steals, one block. Dyson Daniels right now is... He's just filling up the stat sheet. And when you're talking about rebounds, assists, steals, all of that is going to create more possessions for this Hawks team. And this is a Hawks team that likes to run. This is a Hawks team that does not hesitate when they have an open shot. So the more possessions they can take, the more points they're going to put up on the board. And I think Dyson's played a big role in that. So he continues to play great. And after the last couple of games with the floater not going down, Those floaters did go down a little bit more tonight, so that was a really good sign, and obviously, adding the 10 boards, 7 assists, 6 steals, you do love to see that, but speaking of somebody who was struggling from the field tonight, We're going to go to Nickeil Alexander-Walker. And his stat line, you know, beyond the shooting, isn't really that bad. Look, Nickeil, another 20 point night, was 2 of 9 from the 3, 4 of 5 from the free throw line, 3 rebounds, 1 assist. If y'all. He also had a clutch recovery, I don't know why it didn't register as a steal in the final few minutes of this game because he was able to... Get a hustle play, get the rebound, and go down the floor to secure a layup with about a minute to go in this game. But overall, Nikhil had a really, really, really tough first half, I thought, in this one. Overall, Alexander Walker, 4 of 10 from the field. And he did have 10 points in that first half and 10 in the second. But I thought his shot selection in the second half was a lot better than the first. Even though he was 0 of 4 from deep in the second half, I thought they were much better looks. There were a couple of looks in the first quarter where he really forced. He was 0 of 4 to start this game on some layups that he probably should not have taken. So it was a rough start for him. But overall, through the course of the game. I thought his shot selection did get better. And with his shot selection getting better, you saw him just knocking down more of those. Naturally, that's going to happen, right? So I thought he was much better as the game went along. But similar to Aaron Wiggins, it's been a couple of weird, I think, defensive off nights from Nikhil Alexander-Walker. There's There's been times where... He's letting his man drive by him. And this is not something we're accustomed to watching with Nikhil. So hopefully, defensively, he's able to pick it up. you, And the Hawks are able to extend that win streak to five when they face the Lakers on Walker. Monday. But some of the broader stats I really wanted to get to in this game. As we look at just the entirety of the box score here is the points in the paint. The Hawks won the points in the paint 70 to 48. And when they shoot just 12 of 46 from three, 26%, that's absolutely needed. You need another way to dominate the point category. And that's how the Hawks were able to do it. Brooklyn only managed 48 points in the paint. And another big stat, 20 to four, Atlanta won the fast break point. Getting inside, getting on the run, and winning the second chance points, 24 to 20, as well as the points off turnovers, 28 to 13. The Hawks forced 22 Brooklyn turnovers compared to just 12 of their own. So when you're talking about the possession battle, and Quinn Snyder talks a ton about that the entire time Atlanta was able to dominate that area, 47 of 105. They took 105 shots from the field in this game. Compared to the Nets, 89. And that's because you've got offensive rebounds, you've got turnovers, and you're making those turnovers come into possessions, get steals, go on the other way. All of that is just going to lead to more field goal attempts. And that is how the Hawks were able to pull away this win. Even though Brooklyn started off really well, the Hawks defense got much better in the second half. They only allowed... 51 points compared to 70 first half points. So defensively, they were able to figure it out a little bit better, but there still needs to be better defense overall for 48 minutes if the Hawks want to turn this win streak into five on Monday night against the Lakers. But with that, we're going to head and close out this video. Guys, definitely leave your comments down below. What did you think of the game tonight? What did you like? What do you want to see improved from Monday? And also... Um, what did you think about Quinn Snyder doing the offense defense substitutions with Aaron Wiggins and Dyson Daniels? Personally, I liked it. Dyson was, Dyson was struggling with that shot, uh, late in the game there. So I'm curious to hear your thoughts about what you think of that. But with that, go ahead and close out this video, guys. Make sure to stay tuned for more content coming this weekend at Hawks Digest. And with that, don't forget to subscribe to the channel. We appreciate all your guys' support. Comment, like the video on your way out, and we'll see you in the next one. Peace.