Atlanta Hawks: Nate McMillan’s goal for chemistry will be hard to achieve
The Atlanta Hawks got off the schneid on Saturday, picking up their first win of the preseason with a hard-fought 91-87 road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. It was an ugly game with both teams missing players and neither cracking 40 percent shooting from the floor.
Trae Young and Ja Morant being out telegraphed the offensive struggles that would be on display.
Still, it was good to come away with the win.
There is one specific thing, however, that Head Coach Nate McMillan has made clear what he wants most to come of the preseason and that is chemistry. With so many players banged up, that could prove to be quite the tall task.
The Atlanta Hawks want to build chemistry but injuries are standing in the way
Young is dealing with a quad contusion and was missing his second consecutive game. Kevin Huerter started at point guard in his place, a role he became familiar with last season. Huerter had nine points on 40 percent shooting and hit 1-of-3 triples to go with four assists.
He has some playmaking ability, but the offense stagnated without its superstar.
That’s not a surprise. But the Hawks are supposed to be better equipped to withstand that sort of thing this season after the addition of Delon Wright.
The problem is he missed this one too after picking up an ankle injury in the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
John Collins finished with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. And Bogdan Bogdanovic led the team with five assists while tying Collins’ team-leading point total.
Rookie Sharife Cooper was the catalyst with all 10 of his points coming in the final frame. He also had three rebounds, three assists, a pair of steals, and a block in the fourth quarter as the Hawks outscored the Grizz after being knotted up at the end of the third.
Three was always going to be an adjustment period when Clint Capela came back, which is expected to be for the start of the regular season. The same goes for Onyeka Okongwu who should be back by February.
But offseason pickup Gorgui Dieng suffered a hand injury that knocked him out of Saturday’s contest, putting Atlanta’s depth to the test even further.
Jahlil Okafor was the first to step in for Dieng, but he ended up seeing fewer minutes than rookie Jalen Johnson. Neither had a great game but both had moments where they flashed; the latter more so than the former.
As the Hawks find out the severity of Dieng’s hand and sort through the rotation should he need to miss time, it’s fair to wonder how all of this will impact them to begin the season.
The possibility of a slow start has been discussed before when we learned of a slew of injuries of which we were previously unaware. It’s only gotten worse since then with Capela still yet to fully participate, De’Andre Hunter’s knee soreness, Young’s quad, and now Dieng’s hand.
Next. Kevin Huerter’s price tag isn’t dropping anytime soon. dark
That is a lot to ignore even with them not playing again until Thursday and not opening the season until Oct 21. It shouldn’t damage them too badly long term. But it certainly could make things rough at the outset. Especially with something so delicate like team chemistry.