Hawks’ Corey Kispert finds his footing with career night against old team

Everything seemed to align for Hawks forward Corey Kispert in Thursday’s win over the Wizards, his former team.

“I mean, there’s nothing that you can kind of, like, pinpoint,” Kispert said on when he knew he had it going.

“I felt really good in warmups. The ball felt great on my hand. And when that first kind of corner 3 went in, I knew I might have something good going. And then I had a couple easier shots to follow that fell, too. So it kind of all just happened so fast.

“As athletes, we want to be able to find that feeling as fast as possible and keep it as long we can.”

Kispert found it quickly Thursday, driving on Wizards forward Anthony Gill before making a turnaround jumper 12 feet from the basket. Less than a minute later, he caught a quick pass from Dyson Daniels and drained a 3 while falling out of bounds in front of the Hawks bench.

But Kispert, who turns 27 on Tuesday, was only beginning to simmer, because Daniels found him for another with one minute to play in the first quarter.

Daniels then picked off Gill and pushed the ball ahead to Kispert for another 3 from the wing 28 seconds later.

Kispert then got in on the dishing action, finding Mo Gueye for a running dunk after Gueye forced a steal.

The forward’s flurry of offense allowed the Hawks to end the first quarter on a nearly four-minute 17-6 run. But it was just the start of a half that pointed to a career night for Kispert.

He came out in the second quarter with back-to-back jumpers from the left wing, then a driving finger-roll layup.

Kispert made each of his first seven field-goal attempts. He didn’t miss a shot until 9:10 remained in the second quarter. But he finished the first half scoring 22 points, which matched his career best for points in a single half. It also forecast he wasn’t done and had plenty more to give.

But Kispert never let any of his teammates know. Because of superstition, he kept that information tucked close to his chest.

By the end of the night, Kispert scored a game-high 33 points on 11-of-19 shooting. He made six of his 11 3-point attempts and had six rebounds and one block to go with it.

“So happy I got that, and you know I didn’t expect anybody to know,” Kispert said. “I wanted to kind of keep it on the low, you know, ‘knock-on-wood’ kind of stuff.

“So didn’t want to tell anybody, didn’t want to jinx it. Didn’t want to do anything crazy, and try to let the game come to me as best I could. Really happy. I got it done, nice. It was a lot of fun.”

Although Kispert may not have given his teammates a heads-up, Zaccharie Risacher said he had an inkling.

“Yeah, it was obvious,” he said with a smirk after the game. “He was playing great, and I’m sure it was a special game for him, too, playing the Wizards. And it was just great to witness this game from him. And, he had a great game. And, I’m super excited for him.”

The Hawks acquired Kispert, along with CJ McCollum, from the Wizards in January. The deal, of course, sent longtime face of the franchise Trae Young to Washington.

“I’m fortunate enough to only have been traded once in this business,” Kispert said. “A lot of people go through a lot more than I do.

“And I’m really thankful for the Hawks now for inviting me in with open arms, making me feel welcome from the jump and feel like a really valuable part of this team going forward.

“Only being here for a month and some change now; it’s been an awesome transition. It’s been the best I could have ever hoped for.”

Like Young, it was his first career-trade after the Wizards drafted him with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. So, Kispert has been adjusting to a new normal.

“I spent my whole career competing against these guys in practice, and to do it with a different uniform now felt funny, especially two days ago, the first time,” Kispert said. “Today felt a little bit more normal.

“Unbelievable relationships with the guys on the other side, guys on that bench, coaches, staff members. I felt like I was seeing old friends and people that I’ve missed since the trade for sure, and having a chance to compete against them was really special.”

Kispert said he had an idea the move would happen a few days before it did. So he had time to prepare for what was to come.