Bogdanovic gives Hawks a boost in win over Bulls

The Hawks have struggled with holding onto double-digit leads this season. But on Tuesday, they adjusted, getting back into transition quickly and played through possessions, a habit that coach Quin Snyder has been stressing to this team.

2. The Hawks’ win comes despite the absence of both guard Trae Young and forward De’Andre Hunter. Young did not travel to Chicago with the team, missing the game with a non-COVID illness. Hunter appeared on the bench but has missed the last three outings with a bone bruise and muscle strain in his left knee.

The team bumped Bogdan Bogdanovic into the starting lineup along with Saddiq Bey, who continued to play in place of Hunter.

Bogdanovic got the Hawks going early, scoring the team’s first eight points. He ended the night with 26 points, making five of his 10 3-point attempts. He’s shot 40% or better from 3 in all but four of the 18 games he’s played since the All-Star Break.

“Well, I tried to put him back in a couple of times, and he was tired, which tells me he’s good, it means he was playing defense because we know he can shoot the ball,” Snyder said. “He passed up his first shot. And I think we got on him a little bit for that. He didn’t pass up the next one.”

Bey also played aggressively, though most of his damage came at the rim. The forward went 8-of-13 from the floor for 18 points, finding ways to give the Hawks offense with his shot not falling from outside.

“Think it’s just the poise and the flow of the game,” Bey said. “The shots that we want early in possessions like open threes, or to the rim, but we know that certain times of the game, and how the games going, we know when to go, when to be aggressive.”

3. The Hawks took great care with the basketball in the first half. But when they returned from the locker room after halftime, they struggled. The Bulls turned up the physicality, getting into the Hawks and forcing them off their spots.

When the Hawks tried to recover, the Bulls tried to capitalize. But the Hawks did a better job of getting back in transition and limited the Bulls to just five fast-break points in the third quarter.

The Hawks’ missteps in the second half, threatened their hold on the game a number of times. The Hawks had just five turnovers in the entire first half of the game but had six in the third quarter alone.

4. The Hawks’ bench needed a scoring punch with both Bogdanovic and Bey in the starting lineup. That’s where sophomore forward Jalen Johnson came in and provided the Hawks with eight points in his first eight minutes in the night.

Johnson was everywhere on both ends of the floor, making sure to handle his matchup against the Bulls’ front court. When he made a mistake, he made up for it like chasing down Coby White and blocking his shot at the rim.

Two quarters later in the fourth, he picked off Zach LaVine and finished at the basket with a thunderous one-handed dunk.

“I wouldn’t say necessarily confidence, I believe my confidence has been growing game by game,” said Johnson, who finished with 16 points. “I just knew the importance of tonight’s game. So just coming out right away in attack mode, I think that was kind of everybody’s mindset, not just mine.”

5. The Hawks and Raptors both won their games and continue to keep a grip on eighth place. The Heat beat the Pistons and remain two games ahead in seventh.

The Nets lost, so mathematically the Hawks could still make a run for sixth place.

Stat to know

3 - Jalen Johnson put up a career-high three steals, two of which came in the first half alone.

Quotable

“I think his teammates have a lot of confidence in him. He’s a basketball player. He can do a lot of things on the floor and he’s capable of making plays on both ends” - Quin Snyder on Jalen Johnson.

Up next

The Hawks return to State Farm Arena on Wednesday to host the Wizards on the second night of back-to-back games.