ATLANTA, GA – The Atlanta Hawks came into Sunday trying to shake off a nasty loss against the Detroit Pistons two days before. It's safe to say they were able to do that, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 120-117. It was a game where everyone pitched in, all the way down to the 10th man, in order for them to get the win.
For the past few weeks, Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had been doing most of the scoring for the Hawks, but on this specific night, neither one of them had it going. Though Johnson finished with his fourth straight triple-double, he shot 5-for-17 from the field. As for Alexander-Walker, he finished with 12 points, shooting 3-for-18 from the field.
That means that other players had to fill in where they fit in, and that's what they did. Dyson Daniels led the way for the Hawks with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Onyeka Okongwu finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Vit Krejci got hot from three and finished with 19 points, while Zaccharie Risacher got into a groove and finished with 15 points.
“We have a really deep team,” Daniels said after the game. “Whether Jalen’s shot isn’t falling or Nickeil’s shot isn’t falling, they’re still out there helping. Vit was huge off the bench for us again, Asa came in and played some good minutes. Everyone really stepped up and did their role today. We don’t rely on people to have big games for us to win, and that’s a really good thing about our team. Guys can step up on any given night, and guys have been doing that this year, which is good.”
It's something that the Hawks have leaned on a lot this season, and it's taken a collective group effort for them to win instead of just one guy carrying the load. Even when guys aren't having big games,
“This game epitomizes the way we need to play,” Quin Snyder said. “Whether it was Dyson or Jalen making a defensive play, which I like to talk about because you guys always like to talk about his triple-doubles. But we need him on both ends of the floor. He came over and got a big block, he got some good rebounds, and everybody did their part.
“Dyson continues to get in the paint, and even Nickeil. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but he impacted the game in so many ways and hit some big free throws late.”
Hawks get clutch win against 76ers
It was a tight game late in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks were able to maintain the lead throughout. One thing that helped them late and through the game was rebounding, which has been their Achilles heel all season.
“Rebounding is a big emphasis for us,” Daniels said. “We’ve been getting dominated on that end of the floor basically all year, so coming off that game against Detroit, we felt like we were pushed around a bit. We wanted to come out and be the aggressors, be physical, get hits, and rebound the ball. Teams are really starting to crash against us. We know if we’re going to be a good defensive rebounding team, we have to be physical and hit some guys.”
While Daniels lived in the paint with his floaters and layups, Okongwu did most of his work out on the perimeter, where he knocked down five of his 10 three-pointers.
“It’s about confidence, but regardless, contest or not, trust the work,” Okongwu said. “Shoot it anyway. I work so hard just to not shoot the ball, so no matter what, if I feel like it’s going in, it’s going up.”
It was a big win for the Hawks, and the hope is that things continue to get better for them. It's possible, especially with Trae Young coming back to practice this week.
