Hawks newcomer Larry Nance Jr. gets sweet revenge on former team

Larry Nance Jr. has only been an Atlanta Hawk for seven games, but he might already be a fan favorite. Nance walked into Smoothie King Center in New Orleans and made an emphatic statement against the Pelicans – the team that traded him to the Hawks in last summer’s Dejounte Murray deal.

After scoring five points in the first half, Nance took things up a notch in the third quarter. The bouncy big man threw down one of the most vicious posters of the NBA season so far, sending an extra message with an immediate staredown of the Pelicans bench.

On the very next possession, Nance added insult to injury when he buried a three right in front of his former teammates. He then blew a kiss at them with a 3-pointer hand signal just to make sure they knew how much fun he was having.

Nance finished the second half 4-for-4 from the field and had 14 points on the night, but his viral dunk will be remembered most. Even at 31 years old, the veteran forward is no stranger to posterizing the competition

Larry Nance Jr. and Dyson Daniels talked their talk all night

Dyson Daniels, who has already flashed sky-high potential with the Hawks, came over with Nance in the Murray trade. A shorthanded New Orleans squad couldn’t stop the former Pelicans from serving up some sweet revenge, and those former Pelicans weren’t shy about it at all.

Early in the fourth quarter, Daniels celebrated his second 3-pointer of the night by spraying imaginary bullets at the Pelicans bench with finger guns. The young Australian couldn’t help but crack a smile as he got back on defense.

After their 126-111 victory, Nance and Daniels gave a postgame interview for the ages. Before Daniels joined him, Nance shouted out Trae Young for setting the tone and leading the team to victory. 

“That was Trae Young,” Nance told FanDuel Sports Network. “Two-way Trae. My man was getting steals, playing defense, diving on the floor. He dictated the entire game in the second half … The dude’s IQ is through the roof, tonight was a really impressive one from him.”

Young finished the night with 23 points and 12 assists (with only two turnovers) while Jalen Johnson continued his ascension into stardom with 29 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. The Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak with the win and moved to 3-4 on the season.

Nance’s tone quickly shifted from serious to unserious when Daniels crashed his on-court interview. On top of their hilarious 3-point celebrations, Nance and Daniels gave Hawks fans some lighthearted banter to gush over.

As he left Daniels to finish up the interview, Nance made an important announcement: “I think to close this out, we need a good Ca-Caaw … Dyson?”

Daniels’ Ca-Caaw wasn’t half bad, and his performance wasn’t either. He finished with 16 points on 7/10 shooting and added two offensive boards and a steal.

“It was a lot of fun, had this one circled,” Daniels said. “Had to come back here and play in front of them, play in front of the crowd that drafted me. It was a lot of fun. I’m glad we came in and got the win…”

Larry Nance Jr. may have unlocked a path to more playing time

Nance may have shown no mercy with his stone-cold slam, but he and Daniels thoroughly enjoyed themselves throughout the night. After receiving less than eight minutes of playing time in each of his last two outings, Nance saw a season-high 25 minutes with Onyeka Okongwu sidelined.

Even when Okongwu returns, Nance could see more action as he continues to build chemistry with his new teammates. Atlanta’s logjam of big men hasn’t helped Nance’s case for extended playing time, but he made the ultimate case when he stole the show against New Orleans.

Whether Nance becomes a consistent part of the Hawks rotation or not, fans will look back on his outing against the Pelicans as the ultimate revenge game. Nance is dunking with a vengeance now, and he will need to keep that up moving forward.