In the latest chapter of the Atlanta Hawks rollercoaster season, their seven-game winning streak was snapped by the Toronto Raptors. It took nearly two weeks and an absence from Trae Young to make it happen and they delivered with a strong showing from downtown to snap the Phoenix Suns winning streak at 11 games.
We came away from the loss to Toronto hoping that the scoring outbursts from Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter are here to stay after both had gone rather quiet offensively over the final three games of the run.
They did not disappoint even with Hunter getting into foul trouble.
Keeping the Hawks afloat and giving them another layer to their offense has been a bench that has been rejuvenated despite a pair of players being in the twilight of their careers.
The Atlanta Hawks resurgent bench is riding a wave of veteran savvy
As 92.9 The Game’s Mike Conti pointed out on Twitter, the Hawks bench has been doing yeoman’s work over their last four games. They were outscoring opponents 201-80 and that included 41-12 in the loss to Toronto. The bench did get outscored 25-23 against the Suns but they’ve pulled their weight.
They ranked seventh in scoring during the Hawks winning streak. Before the streak started, they were 21st in scoring.
Bogdan Bogdanovic’s return from injury and subsequent play coming off of the bench has received a lot of well-earned attention. The fifth-year NBA vet has averaged 15.2 points on 46.6 percent shooting and 36.6 percent from three-point range over the Hawks last five outings.
He had 11 points versus Phoenix but they’ve arguably missed his playmaking ability as much as the scoring punch he provides.
We’ve also highlighted how Delon Wright’s defense was helping to key the Hawks offense with him on the second unit. The same goes for Onyeka Okongwu. But it’s been the steady presence of Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams that has arguably been the most impressive in this most recent run.
GALLOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/i5yFPSMabv
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 4, 2022
Gallo had 12 points in the win over Phoenix to snap a slump where he scored seven points or fewer in three of the last four games. He still shot just 33.3 percent from the floor in this one. He averaged 15.2 points on 45.3 percent overall and 43.3 percent from deep over his five appearances before his scoring totals dipped.
Williams missed the game with back spasms. He hasn’t scored a ton but he has been deadly accurate, averaging 8.8 points on 51.9 percent shooting with 3.7 dimes. Over his last four games, he’s averaging 9.8 points on 56.5 percent shooting and has hit 7-of-10 triples.
The duo, which has 31 years of combined experience, has helped drive the Hawks lineup with the best rating. Out of the seven to have seen at least 10 minutes since they began their winnings streak, it’s one featuring Bogdanovic, Gallinari, Okongwu, Williams, and Wright that leads the way with a plus-27.3 net rating.
That may seem like a modest amount.
But it is 49th out of 282 such lineups in the entire NBA during that span. The question is whether or not the Hawks can keep counting on this kind of production.