4 key Atlanta Hawks trends to keep an eye on after the All-Star break

Hawks trend No. 3: Fitting in

One of the keys to the Hawks improved play from the middle of January on was moving Bogdan Bogdanovic to the bench. Already a strength of the team (when healthy), Bogi gave the bench a bonafide scorer while allowing the player to showcase his skillset unencumbered by fitting into the hierarchy of the starting lineup with Trae Young.

The Hawks are 7-5 since Bogdanovic returned from a knee issue and made the move to the bench and 8-6 with him coming off of the bench this season. That isn’t some incredible record by any stretch.

But they’ve gone from scoring 111.2 points before the switch was made (what we assume is) permanent to 116.1 since.

Bogdanovic has certainly made a difference.

He has averaged 16.2 points on 47.6 percent shooting while knocking down 41.6 percent of his triples in that span with 4.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. Bogi has four games with at least five assists including notching six in the win over Orlando. He’s also averaging 1.6 steals and has twice hit his career-high with four takeaways in a game in this time frame.

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More directly to the point, the bench has gone from 32.8 points to 42.5 points per game. Atlanta’s bench is ranked just 20th in scoring this season. But they were 22nd before Bogi joined them and have been the sixth highest-scoring unit in the NBA.

Last season, it was a move to the starting lineup that sparked him and helped fuel the Hawks run as he went from 10.2 points per game to 21.1 points down the stretch.

The Hawks went 18-7 with him as a starter over their last 28 games last season.

This year, his move to the bench has helped to further simplify things for a group that has admitted in many different ways that roles on the team haven’t always been as clear this year as they were last year.

Bogdanovic is a terrific offensive player but has been better this season when he can create for himself. He’s shooting 43.0 percent on pull-ups this season and just 38.8 percent on catch-and-shoot opportunities, though, his effective field goal percentage is a bit higher in the latter situation.

That holds on his triples too with Bogi hitting 38.5 of his pull-up threes and 37.9 percent of the catch-and-shoot variety.