What We Learned From the Atlanta Hawks’ Victory over Charlotte

Looking at the Atlanta Hawks’ 143-138 double overtime win over Charlotte.

The Atlanta Hawks faced off with the Charlotte Hornets Monday night, looking to end a three-game losing streak. They were able to do so — but it wasn’t easy.

The game was close throughout, with the biggest lead of the game being nine (Atlanta) and featuring 14 lead changes. Atlanta needed two overtimes to finish off the Hornets. Neither team got stops for most of the game, and it ended up being youf typical six period, 281 point Monday night basketball game.

It’s the Hawks’ 20th win of the season, the fourth-to-last team to reach that mark. They’ll look to make it 21 on Wednesday when they take on the Knicks. For now, we’ll be taking a look at things we can learn about the team from the game.

What we learned:

• Great offense doesn’t matter if there’s no defense.

Although their production dropped off a bit in the OT periods, the Atlanta Hawks’ offense was great on the night. They shot 66 percent in the first half, making a season-high 21 threes on a nearly 50 percent clip.

Despite, the Hawks never got a double-digit lead, and very nearly lost the game. The Hornets, especially down the stretch of regulation, seemed like they could get a bucket whenever and however they wanted. Cam Reddish, Treveon Graham and De’Andre Hunter played good D on the night, but nearly everyone else struggled on that end.

• Hawks kept door open

There were a few moments where it looked like the Hawks may be able to pull away, but kept the door open with turnovers, dry shooting spells and the aforementioned defense. It’s an unusual position for the Hawks to be in, as their usually the ones hanging around not the ones with the lead.

While they did end up with the dub, a cleaner game would have saw the Hawks when in regulation. Atlanta lost the turnover battle 15-3.

• Hunter lives for big moments

De’Andre Hunter made a name for himself in college as a clutch player, and while he hasn’t had a whole lot of chances to show that in the NBA, flashed it tonight. He was a great defender down the stretch, and hit the three free throws to win the game. The box score numbers may not show it, but he was among the Hawks’ best players on the night.

• John Collins is a star, needs to shoot more

Collins made 12 of 13 shots on the night, making his first 11. He didn’t do much in the 4th or OT periods however, and seemed tentative at times. If you’re shooting 92 percent from the field, you probably should be shooting more.

• Clutch Cam

Killer Cam was everywhere, and showed up big in OT. Not only was he playing defense on the Hornets’ ball-handlers down the stretch, he seemed to be the primary target of Trae Young‘s passing in crunch time. He delivered in the clutch.

• The Dewayne Dedmon of old is still here

Dewayne Dedmon has been struggling pretty badly of late, finally turning it around tonight. He made two threes after an 0-7 showing on Saturday, adding nine rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes. He also fouled out.