Five observations from the Hawks’114-99 season-opening victory over the Wizards Thursday night at Philips Arena.
1. Paul Millsap is still the Hawks best player. The All-Star power forward finished with a game-high 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one block in 31 minutes. He was a plus-22 on the night. He had eight fourth-quarter points, including two 3-pointers, in the Hawks' decisive 20-4 run to start the final period. "We did a better job of running our offense," Millsap said. "We moved the basketball. We set better screens. We came off of it and looked to attack. I was able to get some open shots."
2. Dwight Howard can rebound – and then some. Howard finished with 19 rebounds. He had seven rebounds in the first six minutes, nine in the first quarter and 15 in the first half. He is the first Hawks to record 19 rebounds in a game since Al Horford posted 22 boards at Detroit on Feb. 25, 2013. "Everybody else is smaller," Wizards center Marcin Gortat said. "He gets pretty much every offensive rebound if I'm not there."
3. Tim Hardaway Jr. came up big. Much has been made of the struggles of the guard last season and early in the preseason. Forget all that for now. Hardaway Jr. finished with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting, including three 3-pointers. During the fourth quarter, he had 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting and had seven straight Hawks' points. He was also a plus-23. "Coach had confidence in the bench guys to start the fourth quarter with Paul in the mix," Hardaway said. "We picked up the defense a little bit and helped us leak out and get some lay-ins and wide open 3's."
4. Thabo Sefolosha added to the strong bench effort. The forward had 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. He was a plus-19. Mike Muscala added nine points and was the first reserve off the bench, a likely regular part of the rotation. Sefolosha and Hardaway were on the floor during the Hawks' fourth-quarter run. "I'm sure there would have been 18 hands and arms pulling me back if I tried to take them out," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
5. Kent Bazemore got hit with a flagrant foul after he undercut the Wizards' John Wall going for a breakaway layup. Tempers flared after the play, which was reviewed. Bazemore said he didn't intend to get that close to Wall and if he had to do it again he would not have challenged the play. "He is a right-handed player and I thought he was going up with the right," Bazemore said. "He came in with the left. I don't play the game like that. We are both North Carolina guys. We have a bond even before all of this. Just unfortunate play. We hugged and made up after that." Wall missed much of the playoff series against the Hawks two seasons ago with a broken hand. He said following the game he injured two fingers on the play.
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