The good, the bad, the ugly: Shorthanded Hawks band together against Magic
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Hawks gutted it out and rallied back to pick up their first win of the season.
Despite not having both Kristaps Porzingis and Zaccharie Risacher, the Hawks leaned on several of their young and developing players Friday night to down the Magic — a team that has given them trouble over the past couple of seasons.
They also had a classic performance by guard Trae Young, who scored 11 of his team-high 25 points in the final six minutes of the game. Young also had six assists, two steals and one block.
“We trust in him,” Hawks forward Jalen Johnson said. “He got everybody set and organized and in their spots and he just brought us home.”
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Hawks’ 111-107 win over the Magic at the Kia Center on Friday.
The good: Unlike their first game of the season, the Hawks had a lot more good to celebrate Friday night.
Collectively, the Hawks executed — especially down the stretch in making the Magic work for their shots.
But the Hawks had a huge night by forward Mouhamed Gueye, whose energy off the bench helped to tie everything together.
Gueye finished with had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one block.
“Ever since he’s got here, he’s been a hard worker,” Johnson said. “He’s usually one of the first people on the court.
“So, Mo is a guy that stays ready. He doesn’t complain. He doesn’t cry about anything. He just keeps his head up and he works. He always walks around with a smile on his face. Has a handshake with everybody. So everybody loves Mo, and it’s great to see him have moments like this, and there’s gonna be many more times where he comes up big for us this year.”
His defensive awareness helped to cut off some of Paolo Banchero’s looks at the basket when he kept him in front or rotated to help.
But Gueye’s hustle to grab a loose ball with 5.1 seconds in the game put a stamp on a strong defensive possession to hold on to Friday’s win.
The bad: The Hawks have stressed that they need to run. Whether they’re picking up speed on the offensive end or getting back to stop their opponent from racking up the points in the paint. They must run.
They did a much better job of doing that Friday, holding the Magic to 12 points in the paint and 4 fast-break points in the first quarter.
But the Hawks had a few lapses where the Magic leaned on their physicality and threw the Hawks out of rhythm. They opened the second quarter on a 12-4 run, hammering the Hawks with drives to the basket.
“They got a couple real early,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “And I think sometimes when you feel that and it hurts you, it’s really more mental than just being able to react and have urgency. But as the game went on, we did a much better job not giving up easy baskets. I thought we rebounded the ball pretty well, as well. A lot of second shots.”
The Hawks gave up only 58 points in the paint, compared with the 86 they gave up to the Raptors on Wednesday. They also held the Magic to 18 fast-break points.
The ugly: Friday night was not the Hawks’ best shooting night. The Hawks shot 3-of-21 from 3-point range in the first 36 minutes. Then the basket opened up and the Hawks made five of their eight 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter.
The Hawks want to be aggressive with shooting, and they’ll continue to take those shots until they get in rhythm.
About the Author
