Atlanta Hawks: Why beating the Chicago Bulls was crucial for the franchise

The Atlanta Hawks went into the most recent game against the Chicago Bulls with almost a full squad. They needed them as Tony Snell went down with an ankle injury and went to the locker room. He was available to return but the Hawks did not need to risk him as they took control of the game in the third period and never gave the Bulls another look in.

Coming into the game the Hawks welcomed back Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter which was a huge boost to their ranks. They were on the second night of a back-to-back and they opened the game looking like this was the case.

The problem was, the Bulls were on the second night of a back-to-back and they were making the higher-ranked Hawks look slow. Thaddeus Young was a thorn in the Hawks’ side all night, almost finishing with a triple-double with 20 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.

The Atlanta Hawks were on the receiving end of the Chicago Bulls motivation

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Motivation can be a huge factor in sporting contests. The Hawks were playing to guarantee them a spot in the play-in tournament which is a huge achievement given where the Hawks have come from just one season ago. While that would have been nice, they have seven more games to achieve this.

The Bulls on the other hand were playing for their season. Lose against the Hawks and they were out of contention for the season. They did not have Zach LaVine or Nikola Vucevic which should have made life easier for the Hawks.

What it did do was motivate the remaining Bulls players to play even harder and they went into the half-time break nine points up on the Hawks. I do not know what Nate McMillan said to his team at the half but what he said worked. The Hawks went on a 13-2 run to take the lead and never gave it back. This is a good example of why he should be the Hawks’ next head coach.