Kennard catches fire to lift Hawks past Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — With several new faces on the roster, the Hawks played with even more gusto. They downed the Warriors 124-111 on Sunday in their second game of their West Coast trip.
“Coming to tonight, we knew that 3s was a big thing for them, and it gets the crowd going,” Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “And then when they’re at home, and they get the crowd ignited, and Steph (Curry) starts making unthinkable shots and so forth and I think it’s just it was imperative to make sure that we are up. We were aggressive. We force them into the paint. Try to stay home as much, take away the kick out 3s and the chasing these guys, the shots and whatnot. So, just hats off to everybody tonight for executing game plan.”
CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert made their Hawks debut, both coming off the bench as they acclimate to their new team.
But their presence gave guard Luke Kennard the ultimate spacing to have one of his best outings in a Hawks jersey so far this season.
Quick stats: Jalen Johnson had 23 points, 11 rebound and six assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 24 points, and Luke Kennard finished with a season-high 22 points off the bench after making 6-of-9 3s.
CJ McCollum had 12 points and four assists in his Hawks debut.
Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler had 31 and 30 points respectively.
Key moment
The Hawks had ruled Kennard questionable toward the end of the first half with a neck strain. But Kennard returned to the game with a bit of steam.
Kennard checked back into the game with 5:33 to play in the third quarter. He made his first 3 one minute later. He added a second 3-pointer with 2:43 to play in the third, before sinking yet another 19 seconds later off a steal from Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Kennard made his fourth 3-pointer of the game in the third quarter with 12.8 seconds in the frame that put the Hawks up 94-76.
Highlight play
The Hawks started off 1-of-7 from the floor but then they got some momentum, especially after getting stops.
With 7:43 to play in the first quarter, Onyeka Okongwu picked up Quinten Post high and pressured him. Okongwu did not yield room and poked the ball away as Post tried to get some space to make a pass.
Okongwu collected the loose ball before finding Johnson leaking out for a one-handed dunk.
What they said
“Anytime you play a team that’s as good as they are, they’re going to make runs. It’s something that we talked about. I mean, you stop runs on the defensive end as much as anything I thought in the first half, even though we started the game, the ball wasn’t going in during a few of those stretches that we keep defending, it limits that, and hopefully it keeps us aggressive.” -- Quin Snyder said of stopping the Warriors run in the third quarter.
“I was actually, I was a little nervous when I went back out to warm up in the second half, my first couple of like shots warming up. Didn’t feel great, but honestly, the trainers and stuff, like finding ways on the sideline to stay loose, and they said, if I feel comfortable to play, then I’m gonna go, and I’ll never really, pull myself out of the game. So I mean, it definitely worked out, staying in there, but definitely feeling a little bit but it’s all good.” -- Kennard on playing through the tweaked neck.
“I think it was all about Atlanta; they just played a great game. We couldn’t turn them over, they shot it lights out, 32 assists, seven turnovers. I didn’t think we played poorly; I didn’t think we played that well. Obviously, 10-for-42 (from 3), we needed to shoot better. More than anything, they just played a great game and deserved it.” -- Warriors coach Steve Kerr on how the Hawks gave them trouble Sunday.
“Honestly, it’s amazing. Like every before every game, I tell Luke be aggressive, shoot the ball. And we love when Luke shoots the ball for obvious reasons. And tonight was one of those nights for him, and I’m happy for him, because we’ve been on him to be aggressive, and he was finally being aggressive, and I hope he keeps getting aggressive from this point on.” -- Alexander-Walker on Kennard’s shooting.
Up next
The Hawks head south to Los Angeles to face the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.
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