Delon Wright’s fingerprints were all over the Atlanta Hawks big Game 3 win

The impact that Atlanta Hawks backup guard Delon Wright makes often transcends the stat sheet. There aren’t any metrics for forcing the extra pass or a shot clock violation. Or for making the extra extra pass. He is the quintessential “eye-test” player most nights, doing all of the little things his team needs to win.

Then there are nights such as in the Hawks’ improbable 111-110 Game 3 victory over the Miami Heat when his impact shows up both ways.

Trae Young stole the headlines with his late-game heroics while Bogdan Bogdanovic played co-pilot in the Hawks’ comeback. Miami’s Kyle Lowry also stole headlines after the game following reports he is dealing with a hamstring injury.

Yet you can find Wright’s fingerprints all over this game and this series.

The Atlanta Hawks continue getting whatever they need from Delon Wright

Wright finished Friday’s contest with 13 points, five rebounds, and one assist. He was a game-best plus-23 and, through three playoff games, leads the team in plus-minus at plus-8.0, per NBA.com. That is 25th out of 190 playoff participants. He has led the Hawks in plus-minus in 2-of-3 postseason contests.

His 13.8 game score was the fourth-best for the Hawks this postseason, per Stathead.com data.

The other three came courtesy of Bogdan Bogdanovic (twice) and Trae Young. Both of them got higher marks in Game 3 while Bogdanovic received the Hawks’ best games score in Game 2 for his 29-point effort which earned him a 21.9 game score.

He only saw a couple of minutes in the first quarter, but logged over 10 minutes in the second, knocking down all three of his shots.

He missed his lone free-throw attempt but snagged three boards.

The third quarter was similar to the first in terms of time and production for Wright. But, as the fourth quarter saw Bogdanovic, Young, and even Onyeka Okongwu earning recognition, Wright was helping the Hawks secure the victory as part of a four-guard lineup that Nate McMillan trotted out to close the game.

He knocked the ball out of Tyler Herro’s hands to force a turnover in a 104-104 game with just over two minutes to go.

Wright is fifth on the team in minutes and just eighth in points per game during the playoffs. But he is shooting 64.7% from the floor; second only to Okongwu among the rotation players. He is fourth among that same group shooting 37.5% from downtown.

Only, Bogdanovic (39.1%), De’Andre Hunter (38.5%), and John Collins – who leads the team shooting 50% from deep – have been better from beyond the arc. Wright also leads the team in the playoffs with 1.3 steals per game after being first among the rotation with 1.2 takeaways per game during the regular season.

The win keeps the Hawks away from some dubious history for teams that go down 3-0. Those teams have never made a successful comeback.

Wright is the only player out of 68 qualifiers averaging at least 25 minutes in this postseason that has yet to be whistled for a personal foul.