The Atlanta Hawks went into hostile territory and took Game 1 once again, pulling off the upset.
For the third time in three series, the Atlanta Hawks have stolen home-court advantage by winning Game 1. The win brings their record to 9-4, second-best in the postseason behind only to the 10-2 Phoenix Suns. It’s also their first time in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2015 and their head coach’s first time ever in that role.
Trae Young set a new playoff career-high with his 48 points and kept making history as well, scoring the most points in a playoff game for the Hawks since Dominque Wilkins among other things. It was a banner night for the emerging superstar. It was said by the broadcast team multiple times but also reaffirmed by Young with his play.
The Atlanta Hawks used a complete team effort to take Game 1 in Milwaukee
It was a team effort by the Hawks as Nate McMillan pulled all the right strings. Even when the Bucks took a seven-point lead it felt like a one-possession game. 19 lead changes will do that. It also may have kept the Bucks from stomping the gas as the Hawks never seemed to press the issue outside of Young pulling (and missing on) some deep threes.
When Young went cold in the fourth, his teammates stepped up and outperformed their counterparts, as we expected. What was unexpected was the solid minutes by the Hawks’ 12th man. It’s that kind of depth (and how McMillan uses it) that has made this team so dangerous from game to game.
The largest lead was that seven by Milwaukee but Atlanta spent much of the night erasing similar leads in the blink of an eye, just as they have done with much deficits far greater throughout the playoffs. When Young went cold in the fourth quarter, his teammates stepped up, with John Collins and Clint Capela scoring 17 of the Hawks 28 points in the frame. On to the grades!
Atlanta Hawks starting lineup grades:
Kevin Huerter remained steady with 13 points, though it probably felt like a letdown coming off of his huge 27-point performance in Game 7 of the last round. Huerter is the Hawks third-leading scorer in points per game since replacing De’Andre Hunter in the starting lineup. He’s also shown he’s more than just a spot-up shooter.
John Collins, the Hawks second-leading scorer, has been making a new highlight in just about every game. This time it was this off-the-backboard opp he caught from Trae Young. Collins has scored fewer than 12 points in just three games. They are 0-3 in those games and 9-1 in the others. It’s safe to say they need him to keep it up.
It’s never pretty but Clint Capela just keeps doing his thing, wearing down opponents on defense, catching lobs on offense, and crashing the glass on both ends. Capela scored eight of his 12 points in the second half of Game 1 and hauled in 19 rebounds. He also had a clutch putback late that put the Hawks up by one point with less than 30 seconds.
This grade is being generous. Bogdan Bogdanovic is suffering from a knee injury that has just sapped all of his lift. He shot 16 percent from the floor in this one, though he only attempted two three, which he missed. Bogi also had three steals, giving him seven over his last three games.
Let’s put this in no uncertain terms, Rayford Trae Young is a certified superstar and is quickly gaining the reputation of being an assassin. He scored his 48 points in Game 1 in a variety of ways, from the floater to the deep three (which almost got him in trouble). Young added another 11 assists and went to the free-throw line 10 times in the fourth quarter alone.
Best Atlanta Hawks reserve performance:
It may not have been the best game from Danilo Gallinari but, with Young and Collins doing the heavy lifting, it didn’t need to be. Still, Gallo’s nine points led the Hawks bench and he was technically their most efficient three-point shooter, though he only hit 1-of-3 tiples so it’s not saying much.
How can a guy who scored four points get an ‘average’ grade? By giving solid supplemental minutes behind an injured Bogdanovic and Huerter. After not playing much over seven minutes in two straight, Solo pitched in 20 minutes. His ability to do a little bit of everything has been useful for Atlanta.
Lou Williams played his usual allotment of minutes in Game 1 but had his worst shooting performance of the postseason. He was 1-of-5 from the floor and, while it isn’t what he’s on the floor for, he had no assists. Williams -12 was second-worst on the team.
Take this one with a grain of salt. We were wondering if Onyeka Okongwu would see more floor time in this series after being solid in limited minutes against Philadelphia. Instead, he played just over two minutes securing just one rebound and a block.
In closing:
That’s three straight Game 1 wins for the Hawks. They undoubtedly set the tone in the previous two series and the opener of the Eastern Conference Finals would suggest it might go the same way this time. If so, this year would be the most unpredictable with the Hawks being the poster child for all of the chaos.
Because in order to reach the Finals, they will have gone through three of the four seeds above them and five All-Defensive Team members. Good luck convincing them they can’t win the whole thing. As the saying goes, believe Atlanta.