What a turn of events the past 10 days has wrought upon the Atlanta Hawks (21-25) as they have now won their fourth straight with a convincing 113-91 triumph over the red-hot Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. They never trailed in the game and saw Trae Young score 30 points and tie his career-high by knocking down eight (of 15) threes.
It also snaps a three-game losing streak on the road ahead of a five-game homestand that starts with the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
Perhaps with the extra rest, they can get Bogdano Bogdanovic back in the rotation. He’s missed the last five games now including all four of the Hawks wins while dealing with soreness in the same knee he suffered an avulsion fracture in last season.
The Hawks have gone 4-1 in his absence.
The Atlanta Hawks continued with their improved effort to beat Hornets for their fourth straight win
They did get Danilo Gallinari back from a one-game absence with Achilles soreness. He was not very efficient getting his 10 points, shooting 33.3 percent from the floor and from beyond the arc. It is his fifth-straight outing with at least 10 points and continues what’s been his second-best stretch of the season.
He was one of several Hawks to not shoot the ball well but still impact the game as the bench shot just 40.5 percent overall and went 4-of-15 from deep.
They did get nine points out of Lou Williams, seven boards from Onyeka Okongwu, as well as solid defense from Delon Wright and newcomer Kevin Knox who was 0-for-4 from distance in his sixth game with the Hawks but just his third seeing action.
Hawks starters shot 49.0 percent and went 11-of-24 from downtown.
Tied a career high with 8 threes.@Kelly_Crull | @TheTraeYoung pic.twitter.com/eC4hm6TkR2
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) January 24, 2022
It helped that the Hornets shot just 6-of-36 from outside. Some of those were just missed. But the Hawks have shown an increased level of intensity on the defensive end even before they actually started winning again. The hosts started the game 0-for-19 from three before hitting their first triple with 5:38 to go in the third quarter.
That’s a huge development for a Hawks team that has struggled to contain shooters. The Miami Heat just went 6-for-10 from three in the fourth quarter putting their last win in jeopardy.
Charlotte was 1-for-9 in the final frame.
As far as things to improve on following a game in which they led by as much as 27 points, the Hawks were minus-16 in fastbreak points and minus-12 in the paint.
They did get 12 steals on 16 Hornets turnovers but could only turn them into 17 points.
Atlanta’s newfound resolve is the impetus for their resurgence after their slow start. Young noted a while back that it may have been a bit difficult to get up for games in November and December.
Injuries and COVID have made shaking that off more difficult than even they anticipated but they are finally getting healthy. With the homestand coming up, and the Hawks getting hot while against some of the hottest teams in the league, they stand to make some hay in the Eastern Conference.