After some delay, Taurean Prince made his Hawks debut Monday.
The first-round draft pick had 10 points, four steals, two rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes off the bench in the Hawks’ 72-65 loss to the Nets in a Las Vegas Summer League game.
“It felt amazing to go out there and play with the guys,” Prince said. “I’ve been watching practice this whole time without being able to get up and down with them and get a feel for the NBA game.”
Prince had to wait until the three-team trade that sent him to the Hawks was approved by the league. Word finally came on Monday for the No. 12 overall pick out of Baylor. After days of watching his Hawks teammates practice, Prince got on the court.
“I passed up some shots that I should have taken,” Prince said. “Defensively, I made some mistakes. It’s my first one. You are going to make mistakes. It’s how you respond. I think I responded pretty well to every mistake I made.”
Prince was 5 of 11 from the field and missed both 3-point attempts. He said he was comfortable finding where he shots will come from in the offense. He just needed to take them.
“He did some good things and some things he’s going to need to work on,” Hawks assistant and summer league coach Taylor Jenkins said. “Very encouraged because he wants to get better. He plays really hard. It’s something to build on.”
The Hawks (2-1) concluded the opening-round games of the summer league. They will now be seeded and begin the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
Brandon Ashley led the Hawks with 11 points. DeAndre’ Bembry, Lamar Patterson and Kevin Pangos all scored nine points apiece.
The Hawks held a 12-5 lead early before the Nets went on a run to take a lead they would not relinquish. Chris McCullough led the Nets with 16 points and Isaiah Whitehead added 10 points.
The Hawks suffered a couple of injuries. Edy Tavares remained in the locker room following halftime and received five stitches for a cut to his bottom lip. It was the result of an elbow. Bryce Cotton suffered a right ankle sprain in the fourth quarter and did not return. The severity of the injury was not immediately known.
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