Some observations from the Hawks’ 116-98 win over the Nuggets Thursday:
Five observations
1. Hawks are confident
The Hawks were a confident group following their fourth straight win and ninth in the past 11 games. There are 14 games remaining in the regular season and the Hawks seem to be peaking at the right time.
“We feel that way (like we are rolling),” Thabo Sefolosha said. “It’s great to come out every night knowing that we have a legit shot at winning every game. We want to keep it this way and win as many as we can.”
2. Starting unit strong
The Hawks had eight double-digit scorers, including all five starters. The unit opened up a 16-point lead early in the first quarter. After the Nuggets were able to erase the advantage, the starters put the game away in the third quarter. For the game, the Hawks starters were a combined plus-124. The bench was a combined minus-34.
“They had that bad stretch between the first and second quarter,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said of the bench. “We were up 16 with the starters and we just gave it right back. When you go a minus-16 in that period, it’s hard to make that up. I think the rest of the night the bench was pretty good. They just had that one stretch..
3. Hardaway Jr. starts
With Kent Bazemore out with a right knee bone bruise, Tim Hardaway Jr. got his first start of the season. He started at shooting guard with Kyle Korver moving to small forward. Hardaway scored 10 first-half points, including six in the first quarter. Through the first half he was 3 of 5 from the field, including 1 of 1 from 3-point range, with four rebounds, two assists and a plus-14 rating. He drilled a 3-pointer early in the third quarter for his 15 point, besting his previous season-high of 13. Hardaway finished with a game- and season-high 21 points.
“I know he scored a lot of points but defensively was the key,” Al Horford said. “If he can play defense at that level it just makes us a much better team.”
4. Tale of two quarters
The Hawks started red hot. They led by as many as 16 points and held a 33-23 advantage after quarter as they shot over 50 percent from the field and were 6 of 8 from 3-point range. After holding the big end, the Nuggets went on a 31-13 run to end the first and start the second quarter and took a 46-45 lead. The Hawks regained control with a mini-run to end the first half and took a 54-48 lead into intermission. The Nuggets held two one-point leads for a total of 32 seconds.
5. That’s enough
After the Nuggets made a game of what was headed toward a blowout, the Hawks responded with a strong third quarter. They used a 16-2 run in the period to push their lead back to double-digits. For the quarter, the Hawks shot 63 percent (12 of 19). Eight different players scored, led by Hardaway’s nine points.
