Takeaways from Hawks’ Summer League win over Spurs

The Hawks continued the good feelings from their Summer League outings in Salt Lake City. In their Summer League opener in Las Vegas, the Hawks downed the Spurs 93-66 on Thursday evening.

Quick stats: Asa Newell had 15 points and five rebounds, while rookie Henri Veesaar had 14 points and six rebounds. Zuby Ejiofor had 12 points and four rebounds. Kingston Flemings had five points and eight assists.

-- Ejiofor may not have cleaned up the glass as much as he did in Salt Lake City, but he did all the little things that the Hawks would want to see from their rookie big.

He rotated to the right spots defensively, often deterring the Spurs’ shots at point-blank range. If he wasn’t grabbing the boards, he boxed out players so strongly that he cleared out a lot of room.

The 22-year-old didn’t shy away from physicality and even embraced moments of it.

“I mean, with Zuby, he’s not even embracing that,“ Flemings said. ”He brings the physicality. Like, that’s what Zuby does.”

-- Flemings will look to take a step forward when it comes to finishing around the rim. His speed has been a weapon for the Hawks when they get downhill.

His blowby moves also looked as advertised as he got by defenders to collapse the paint and create space for teammates.

He had a solid finish at the basket when he zipped past his defender before finishing a finger-roll layup from three feet out with 1.3 seconds left in the third quarter.

Flemings also continued to take care of the ball, making the right passes even if his teammates didn’t make the shot.

Through three Summer League games, Flemings had 22 assists, just three turnovers, six steals and four blocks.

“When he has the ball, we feel safe,” Hawks assistant Sanjay Lumpkin said. “He attacks the pressure. He gets in the paint. The biggest thing is, he’s been a connector with our team. He’s been a leader offensively.”

-- Veesaar built off his start in the last game in Summer League in Salt Lake City. He moved around the floor well and impacted plays on both sides of the ball.

The Hawks rookie continued to show progress in his role as a rim protector. Like Ejiofor, Veesaar used his wingspan to deter the Spurs’ drives or alter the trajectory of their shots.

But Veesaar looked more comfortable offensively. He continued to space the floor with a couple of triples. Veesaar, though, got to the right spots for his teammates to find him with lobs.

“He’s gotten better game by game,” Lumpkin said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked. He’s obviously had size and length, and he showed that he stretches the floor.”

-- Newell made more decisive moves to the basket. Getting to the rim has been among the areas of growth for the 20-year-old this offseason.