Rockets-Hawks: Report Card
A recap of the Hawks’ 109-97 win over the Rockets Saturday:
Noteworthy
* The Hawks have won six straight against Western Conference teams.
* The Hawks had six double-digit scorers in Al Horford (22), Tim Hardaway Jr. (20), Dennis Schroder (14), Kyle Korver (11), Paul Millsap (11) and Thabo Sefolosha (10).
* Millsap had his 25th double-double with 10 rebounds.
* Horford led the Hawks with a plus-17 rating.
* The Hawks are averaging 108.4 points during their five-game win streak.
* The Rockets had three double-digit scorers with Michael Beasley (30), James Harden (25) and Donatas Motiejunas (13).
* Dwight Howard had a game-high 17 rebounds, only three on the offensive glass
* Howard was a team-worst minus-14.
* The Rockets had 31 free-throw attempts. The Hawks had 12 free-throw attempts.
* Josh Smith, the former Hawk, had his eighth straight DNP-CDs.
Key stat
14
Fourth-quarter points scored by the Rockets, who began the final period leading 83-82
Quote of the game
“If he could play like this every night, we’ll take that. I won’t ‘We’ve got to get better’ on him tonight. In a weird way, I will.” – Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer on Tim Hardaway Jr.
Report card
Offense: B-minus
The Hawks had two 30-point quarters. They shot 50 percent from the field (44 of 88). They hit some timely 3-pointers that were key. With the game close, the Hawks went on a 9-0 run. The Hawks were limited at the free-throw line. When the Rockets’ switched on the pick-and-roll, the Hawks were able to take advantage of the mismatches most of the time. The offense committed nine second-quarter turnovers that led to 17 points.
Defense: B
The Hawks allowed just 16 first-quarter points and 14 fourth-quarter points. That’s good. They allowed 42 second-quarter points. That’s bad. That allowed the Rockets to get back in a game they trailed by 14 points in the first quarter. James Harden did score 25 points but it came on 17 shots. Dwight Howard finished with just eight points.
About the Author
Chris Vivlamore is the sports editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has served as reporter and editor at the AJC since 2003.
