Rookies Combine for 25 Points as Hawks Blast Grizzlies 108-82

The Atlanta Hawks were coming off a thrilling last-minute victory against the New York Knicks on the road, and they continued their momentum by blowing out the Memphis Grizzlies at home by a final margin of 108-82.

The Grizz were truly awful, and their effort level was exceedingly low. The away team looked disengaged and uninterested, as evidenced by this wide-open putback dunk from Miles Plumlee after only 65 seconds of playing time:

That play was pretty representative of the entire performance from Memphis on this night, as their offense was a disheveled mess. Though Atlanta only shot 8 of 25 from deep (32%), the Grizzlies shot a putrescent 4 of 22 from downtown (18.2%).

Where the Grizzlies truly lost this game was with their turnovers. The away team coughed up the ball a season-high 25 times, and the Hawks were capitalizing on those misses with 26 fast break points, like this easy dunk off a Taurean Prince steal:

In years past (and even at times this season), the Hawks have played down to inferior competition, but on this night, Atlanta stepped on the throat of a lesser opponent and dominated them in every facet of the game.

Individually, almost every player on the Hawks roster contributed a highlight play or had an overall good game. To that, every active Hawks player scored on this night, with no Hawk scoring less than 4 points – now that’s balance.