Atlanta Hawks: 3 Takeaways From Blowout Win Over OKC

The Atlanta Hawks are an extremely well-coached team

I had to throw this one in, because while the average NBA fan may not know what’s brewing down in Atlanta, Hawks faithful know that they have an extremely future with Lloyd Pierce at the helm.

The 42-year old Pierce got an awesome victory over his former employer, the Sixers on Friday, a big win that got the Hawks some national buzz. In that win rookie Kevin Huerter, who Pierce has trusted with tons of minutes, poured in 29 points. And in Tuesday night’s win over the Thunder, Pierce played Huerter 37 minutes, many of them with him guarding Paul George.

Huerter wasn’t necessarily the direct reason for George’s 6/18 shooting night, but you could tell that Pierce had this group ready for this opponent. They did their best to crowd George and contest often as they could and also forced him into 3 turnovers.

Pierce has obviously tutored the Atlanta Hawks well in shrinking the floor, as there was no reason to respect the OKC 3-point shooters. And since they executed this strategy well, they got into the passing lanes early and often racking up 8 steals.

The Thunder shot a miserable 28.1% from the 3-point line, which all but nullified the advantage they would’ve had on most nights with their 40 fastbreak points.

And on the offensive side of the ball, Pierce has clearly gotten through to this team from the start as far as the importance of player and ball movement.

Atlanta is currently 5th in the NBA with a 62.9% assist rate, with EVERY team in front of them in assist rate being a playoff contender. The point of showing this, was that it backs up John Collins’ statement: “We feel like we’re not that far off….”

The Hawks are 8-7 in their last 15 games and playing some of their best basketball of the season. They would look to keep that momentum going on Saturday, January 19 as they take on the Boston Celtics.