Trae Young echoes HC after Hawks notch OT win over Nets

So much for tired legs on the second night of a back-to-back.

One night after falling short in a 157-152 loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Atlanta Hawks edged the Brooklyn Nets in a 147-145 overtime affair. While happy with the win, head coach Quin Snyder wants more from his team defensively.

“The thoughts I have are more about our defense. [127 points] is a lot of points, obviously. The other team scored a lot of points too,” Snyder said via the team. “I think to the extent you can score a lot of points and still try to really have a defensive mindset, that's hard. Because if you're scoring the ball, every possession doesn't seem quite as important because you're scoring.”

Atlanta has scored 299 points over their last two games. And they have done it on 66.3% true shooting, the sixth-best mark in the league in that short span, per NBA.com.

Snyder went on to commend the efforts of Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu.

He also noted De’Andre Hunter’s impact in ways that don’t show up on the stat sheet, also noting that they get a “boost” when the forward attacks the rim. But his message about the team’s defense isn’t lip service. The Hawks have the third-best offensive rating so far this season. Their defensive rating, however, ranks 24th.

“I'm not saying I don't want to score,” Snyder said. “But I think that's going to continue to be the emphasis for us.”

“We scored a lot of points and I think it's more about the defensive end,” Trae Young said. “We got to get give stops. And allowing them to get 145 is too many points. Obviously, we played overtime. But yeah.”

Trae Young’s two-way play a boon for Hawks

Young finished with a team-high 43 points and dished out nine assists.

He continued to shoot poorly overall from the floor, going 6-for-8 from the floor in the first quarter – including a career-high six triples in the frame – and then 6-for-23 the rest of the way. But he also knocked down 8-of-16 long-distance looks and was 4-for-7 from the floor in the overtime period.

Young’s defensive rating ranks in the 56th percentile, per Cleaning The Glass, the highest it has ever been amid his continued push to be more solid defensively.

“I just want to want to be there for my teammates offensively and defensively,” Young continued. “And I just want to impose my will as much as I can on the game every night I go out there and play.”