Mo problems: Hawks collectively play together despite being shorthanded

On the second night of back-to-back games, the Hawks went without some of their top players. Welcoming in Luka Doncic and the Lakers on Saturday night, the Hawks rolled with their youngsters.

They didn’t blink an eye.

The Hawks pushed the pace. They played physical defense. They made decisive reads, allowing them to get out on a 22-9 run with 4:03 to play in the first quarter.

They eventually turned that into a 14-point lead at the half before turning it into a 90-65 lead with 5:59 to play in the third quarter. It forced the Lakers to call timeout and ended Doncic’s night.

The Hawks eventually extended their lead to 30 off an Asa Newell 3-pointer with 10:36 to play in the fourth quarter. They won 122-102.

Quick stats: Hawks forward Mouhamed Gueye finished with a career-high 21 points. He also had seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block.

“I think I was confident,” the Hawks forward said. “Tonight obviously, we were missing JJ (Jalen Johnson) and KP (Kristaps Porzingis). I needed to be extra aggressive. I think that’s what I did. And just do what we do... ”

Dyson Daniels had 10 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 13 assists.

“Just trying to get two feet in the paint and find my teammates,” Daniels said. “A big emphasis for us before the game was to have eyes out and shoot the ball. So, yeah, got my eyes out, and my teammate, big Ace (Asa Newell) come in and made some big shots. I was making shots, too. Everyone really stepped up today.”

Daniels also broke Doc Rivers’ franchise record for longest steal streak in team history.

Key moment

Saturday’s game against the Lakers quickly became the Mo Gueye show. The 22-year-old had an 11-point burst in the first quarter, where he scored a driving layup, then a 3 from the corner, another driving layup that included a foul from Doncic, then another 3-pointer.

Gueye didn’t slow down in the second half either, impacting plays on both sides of the ball. He scored a driving reverse layup before sprinting to the other end and deflecting a go-ahead pass from Doncic to Rui Hachimura.

He then helped the Hawks move the ball before, driving into the paint to collapse the Lakers defense and kicked out to Risacher for a 3.

Highlight play

Daniels proved a catalyst for a lot of the team’s ball movement on Saturday night with his decision-making in the paint. The Hawks guard played aggressively and looked to attack the basket. But Daniels kept his eyes out and looked to find his teammates on the perimeter.

When Daniels looked to score, he put his head down. With 5:22 to play in the second quarter, Daniels took the ball across halfcourt before driving on Lakers’ Jake LaRavia. But when LaRavia adjusted, Daniels dribbled behind his back to create space and get to the rim.