Atlanta Hawks: 6 Takeaways from Narrow Loss to Knicks

Strong All-Around Effort for Bembry

With underrated rookie Kevin Huerter out for personal reasons, DeAndre’ Bembry got the nod as the team’s starting small forward, and he responded with a strong game despite not putting up stunning counting stats. Bembry finished with a well-rounded stat line of 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal in a team-high 32 minutes. After a lost season for Bembry last year, it’s good to see him cement himself as indispensable for these Atlanta Hawks, and we hope he sticks around for the foreseeable future as a rock-solid role player and three-and-D archetype off the bench for the Hawks. He also added a nifty one-on-one block on THJ to his resume, so there’s that.

Trae Young Status Report

Our scintillating rookie, Trae Young, had to contend with two jumbo point guards opposite him on this night. Though Young is off to a historically good start, Frank Ntilikina smothered Ice Trae with his length, height and speed and Emmanuel Mudiay used his heft and bulk to push Trae Young around all night. Young suffered through his worst night of his young career, though he still managed 15 points (6 of 19 shooting) and 8 assists in 30 minutes of action. Young continues to struggle from deep, though his one make (out of 7 tries) was pretty special:

Ice Trae will get better, and he is still a rookie, so these nights will happen.