Last night, the Atlanta Hawks played one of their best games of the season.
Beating the Washington Wizards was not totally unexpected, but the Hawks were without Jalen Johnson and Jock Landale yet again, plus second year forward Asa Newell went out of the game with an injury in the first half. Atlanta was down a lot of pieces in the frontcourt, but they managed to outrebound the Wizards and win by double digits on the road regardless.
So who were the biggest winners and losers from last night's victory?
Daniels streak of not being able to reach double digits in scoring reached six games, but this was a very typical game from him where he affected the outcome in lots of other ways. He finished with eight points, eight assists, and 17 rebounds, which is the most rebounds in a game ever for a guard in Hawks history.
Sure, he would love to have better shooting numbers, but when you can rebound and pass like Daniels, not to mention defend, it does not matter as much. This was a great game from Daniels.
The Hawks played so well tonight that it was hard to really find a loser in this game, but Dort's impact was minimal last night for the Hawks.
Dort got the start in place of Jalen Johnson and finished the game shooting 2-for-10, scoring six points while also grabbing three rebounds and handing out three assists. He was a zero in the plus/minus and played just ok defense as well.
Okongwu has been up and down this season (mostly down), but he came through for the Hawks when they needed him last night.
As I said earlier, the Hawks were very shorthanded in the frontcourt with all the absences on their roster and facing Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr, a talented frontcourt that could give lots of teams problems on any given night. Okongwu answered the call and finished with 14 points and most importantly, 16 rebounds. He was not perfect, but he did exactly what the Hawks needed in this game.
Newell was a backup forward in this game tonight with Johnson out, but he did not get to finish the game after leaving with an injury. In the nine minutes that he did get to see the floor, Newell made little to no impact on the game and that has been the theme for him when he has gotten to play so far this season.
Couple that with Zuby Ejiofor playing well (more on him in a bit) and Mouhamed Geuye coming back at some point from injury and it is tough to see Newell being able to get into the main rotation this season.
Flemings got his first career start last night against the Wizards, and he responded well. He runs the offense better than some veterans do, which is perhaps the highest compliment I could give a 19-year old rookie point guard, and he plays with pace and understanding of the offense.
Flemings scored 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting last night, including hitting both three point attempts, handing out four assists, and grabbing three rebounds. I think he is going to continue to start and be an effective player for the Hawks.
Dorian Finney-Smith did not play for the Hawks last night, but that is why he is one of the losers coming from this game.
With the Hawks missing Johnson, Landale, Gueye, and Newell, Quin Snyder elected to play Corey Kispert as the backup power forward instead of Finney-Smith. That seems to be quite an indictment of where he stands on this roster and unless something really changes, I anticipate it to remain that way.
One of the biggest reasons that the Hawks won this game is how decisive the bench minutes were for them.
They got 15 points each from CJ McCollum and Aaron Wiggins, Zuby Ejiofor had 11 points and played strong defense, and even Corey Kispert scored nine points and played the backup power forward minutes.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/hawks/onsi as Biggest Winners/Losers From The Atlanta Hawks 15-point win Over the Wizards .
