Atlanta Hawks Snap Losing Streak With Win Over Nets
The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night to snap their three-game losing streak. What performances stood out from the victory?
Nothing comes easy for the Atlanta Hawks these days. Even when they win. They entered Wednesday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets having lost three games in a row. In the most recent loss, their point guard got into an on-court argument with a teammate and the head coach, resulting in a wide open three-pointer from the opponent.
That’s not the type of distraction you want 63 games into your season. Fortunately the Hawks didn’t let past events dictate future results. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but they grabbed a much needed victory against the Nets.
Things didn’t start well. Brooklyn held a 4-point lead after one quarter and at half-time. Atlanta outscored the Nets by five points in the third quarter and four points in the fourth quarter to secure the 110-105 win.
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Dennis Schroder didn’t seem to be bothered by his second half “suspension” against the Golden State Warriors. Schroder was the best player on the floor against the Nets. The German point guard finished with 31 points, five assists, and three steals on 10-for-21 shooting. He was also 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.
The anchorman, Paul Millsap, added 24 points, four rebounds, and three assists on 10-for-21 shooting. Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 16 points and six rebounds off the bench. Dwight Howard had his usual double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Ersan Ilyasova‘s 10 points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes showed that he continues to be an excellent fit off of Atlanta’s bench.
Overall the Hawks shot 43.2 percent from the field and a dismal 20 percent from three-point range. The Nets were within a single possession with only three seconds remaining in the game. Somehow the Hawks survived.
The Nets may lose nearly every game they play, but they’re scrappy as hell. They shot 46.3 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from outside to keep themselves in the game. Brook Lopez led the starters with 18 points and Jeremy Lin followed close behind with 16 points and eight assists.
Sean Kilpatrick exploded off the bench, scoring 27 points on 8-for-14 shooting and 3-for-7 from three-point range. Trevor Booker also finished in double figures, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting.
After the game, Paul Millsap spoke about Dennis Schroder’s development this season. The following quotes come from Chris Vivlamore’s recap in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"“Personally, I’ve seen some growth,” Millsap said. “I’ve seen some maturity. I’ve seen a guy who didn’t let what happened the last game get to him. The guy came out and busted his butt, regardless of what happened, disciplined or not. He didn’t play (the second half) of the last game but he came out with a good attitude and helped us win. I see a lot of maturity and a lot of growth in that."
Schroder also talked about how he’s trying to better reel in his emotions during games.
"“I just tried to do a better job talking to them,” Schroder said of controlling his emotions. “Just pick the points when I’m talking to them. Because I’m so competitive that sometimes in the game when it’s heated, everybody is emotional and when say stuff everybody gets kind of mad. So you’ve just got to pick the spots when you do it and tonight it worked well and we just try to keep going forward.”"
That’s exactly what you want to hear if you’re Mike Budenholzer. The benching seems to have gotten everyone on the same page. Sometimes you need a little conflict to clear the air. The focus is now on basketball.
The Hawks will have a day off Thursday before finishing their home-stand Friday night. They’ll take on DeMar DeRozan (but not Kyle Lowry) and the Toronto Raptors on Friday in their third meeting of the season. They split the first two meetings.
Next: Was Mike Budenholzer Right To Bench Schroder?
Atlanta won’t brag about the way they beat the Nets, but in the standings all victories look exactly the same.