Say all you want about Paul Millsap scoring 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter Friday night, but the Hawks’ record-busting win came down more to his 10 rebounds and Atlanta doing some dirty work where it doesn’t typically excel.
When the league’s 25th-ranked rebounding team beats the No. 1 rebounding team 47-36 on the boards, it’s worth noting.
Head coach Mike Budenholzer seemed somewhat unimpressed.
“I think rebounding is one of those strange stats, and obviously we got killed that night,” he said in referencing Monday’s 93-82 win over Detroit, in which Atlanta lost by 19 on the boards. “But it’s not schemes or anything like that. It’s an area where we need to improve.”
The Hawks (36-8) improved Friday in winning for the 29th time in 31 games.
Al Horford grabbed a game-high 12, Millsap hit double digits, and over the final three quarters Atlanta had a 40-25 edge on the glass.
All 10 of the Hawks’ offensive rebounds came in that stretch, as did all 10 of their second chance points.
Atlanta trailed 30-23 after one quarter after being out-rebounded 11-7 and failing to pull in an offensive board.
From there, it was simple: hit the glass, and kick … tail.
It didn’t hurt that DeMarre Carroll helped limit Durant to 21 points on 8-of-22 shooting.
Off the bench, Atlanta’s Pero Antic, Thabo Sefalosha and Dennis Schroder each had four rebounds.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Schroder said after scoring 13 points and adding five assists to his four rebounds. “We’ve got a great team, and we play as a team. It’s great to be a part of it.”
The Hawks turned the tide in the second quarter, taking a 48-47 lead to halftime after out-rebounding the Thunder 19-7. Horford pulled in seven in that period.
Five of the eight Oklahoma City players who saw action in the second quarter, including Kevin Durant (in 12 minutes), did not grab a rebound. Eight of the 10 Hawks who played did.
After the Thunder pulled within 71-69 on Russell Westbrook’s 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the third, Durant blocked Millsap’s shot. The Hawks’ power forward pulled in the misfire, however, and kicked out to Antic for a 3-pointer and a five-point lead.
“The more comfortable we get with each other, the better we’re starting to look out there,” Horford said.
Oklahoma City entered the game leading the NBA in rebounding (46.9 per game) and No. 2 in defensive rebounding (34.71).
Given Atlanta’s No. 29 ranking in offensive rebounding (8.44), that looked on paper ahead of time like a mismatch.
Yet over the final three periods, the Thunder had 19 defensive rebounds, and the Hawks grabbed 10 off the offensive glass – a big disparity vs. pre-game averages.
Atlanta had a 14-11 overall rebounding edge in the fourth quarter, when the Thunder missed 14-of-20 shots and Durant made just 1-of-5.
“The Hawks] did a good job of loading up and making it tough,” he said. “Also, their home crowd had gotten better. I guess they’ve jumped on the bandwagon.”
