Studs and duds to be thankful for after the Atlanta Hawks second road win
Atlanta Hawks stud to be thankful for: Clint Capela did it all against the Spurs
There were a bunch of gaudy point totals to come out of this one. Young and Bogdanovic were both impressive for the Hawks while Dejounte Murray and Bryn Forbes each had 22-plus for the Spurs. But Clint Capela did some of everything, stuffing the stat sheet and controlling the interior for Atlanta.
Capela had “just” 11 points on 50 percent shooting, also going 1-for-2 at the free-throw line. But he also had five steals and three blocks while committing just one personal foul in over 32 minutes of floor time.
The Spurs were held to 50 percent shooting in the paint.
That was almost all by Jakob Poeltl who still got his 15 points but certainly had to work for every bit.
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Since a two-point, six-board dud versus the Golden State Warriors, Capela has averaged 13.6 points on 65.8 percent shooting and 13.5 rebounds. But he’s also put up 1.6 steals, 1.5 assists, and 1.4 blocks on that same eight-game span.
He admittedly wasn’t himself to start the season as he was healing from an offseason ankle procedure. but said a few games ago that he was getting back to his usual form. It has shown in the stat sheet and on film as his bounce has returned. The Hawks bigs have been on a tear of late and this showing from Capela was just the latest example.
With Onyeka Okongwu out for another month at the least, and Gorgui Dieng proving to be largely ineffective to the point he has seen just over three minutes of play over his last six games, the Hawks need Capela (and Collins) to keep it up.