On Tuesday night, the Hawks finally had their full rotation restored when forward De’Andre Hunter returned to action after recovering from knee inflammation.
Hunter, the team’s best defensive player, did a lot of the small things as the Hawks scored a 138-122 win over the Lakers, one of their larger wins of the season by margin of victory.
“He’s got great habits in shifting and helping and rotating,” coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “He has good feel for where he needs to be, and then he’s 6-8 (which is helpful), whether he’s defending a wing or there’s times when we have him on the ball. So some of that versatility is really helpful, and he takes pride in it, too.”
Tuesday’s game was the Hawks’ first since November in which they had all of their top eight players available to play. It was an encouraging moment in a season that has lacked for such. And with that, the Hawks would do well to show they’re going in the right direction. One specific area has to be on the defensive end.
Before Wednesday’s games, they ranked second to last in the NBA in points per game allowed and fourth to last in defensive rating (points per possession). That has overshadowed an offense that — when it’s playing together as it did against the Lakers — is free-flowing, entertaining and effective.
The defensive play might be the most significant reason why they’re 20-27, which as of Wednesday afternoon was good for 10th in the Eastern Conference. Last season, they were 24-23 after 47 games. When the Hawks fired then-coach Nate McMillan last February, they were 29-30.
One of the explanations for the Hawks’ underperformance (particularly on defense) has been long-term injuries to forwards Jalen Johnson and Hunter, arguably the team’s two best defenders. Johnson missed 14 games with a wrist fracture, and Hunter, who has had challenges staying healthy in his career, has sat out a total of 22 games with problems with his right knee and his right quad tendon. Both are back, providing Snyder with his top eight players.
The other explanation is that the team has been learning Snyder’s defensive system. That seems legitimate, but it’s now more than halfway into the season.
The Hawks would have to finish the season 22-13 to surpass last season’s 41-41 record, and that seems unlikely. And, for better or worse, that’s probably OK with the team’s leadership. Before the season, GM Landry Fields was asked what the team’s goal was. He answered that there are team goals, “but really it’s about a day-and-day process about creating good and sustainable habits.”
That was not the most inspiring answer, but hopefully the club is picking out just the right spot in the State Farm Arena rafters for the “Good and Sustainable Habits” banner.
Regardless, if that’s what the aim was and is, fielding one of the weaker defenses in the league isn’t much of a sign that these habits are getting ingrained very well.
To play defense well, it helps to be quick, agile and long-limbed. The Hawks have some shortcomings there. But at its core, effective defense requires selfless effort, communication and focus — the same sorts of traits that Fields has said he’s targeting as he builds the roster for Snyder.
It was interesting that, in enumerating Hunter’s defensive attributes, Snyder noted his size, but only after his ability to anticipate. That’s an area where the Hawks have been inconsistent, but one that can be improved by paying attention and knowing the scheme. Snyder also complimented Hunter for taking pride in his defense, which one would hope would be a given on a club striving toward good habits.
Despite the overall picture, the Hawks have shown some results. The team ranked third in the league in charges taken per game and eighth in deflections after Tuesday’s games. While limited by his size and build, Young is showing more effort. In the second quarter against the Lakers, he fought so hard going through a screen that he actually was fouled.
And a team doesn’t score as effectively as the Hawks do (fourth in the league) by accident. Some progress clearly is happening.
Regardless, the defensive performance clearly is not consistently cohesive and has prevented the Hawks from achieving a more acceptable slot in the standings.
And now, with the full rotation in place and 47 games under their belts, the Hawks have the opportunity to deliver clear signs that they’re worth believing in. It’s a measurement of the players, of Snyder and Fields (and by extension owner Tony Ressler).
If winning championships with players and good and sustainable habits is Fields’ plan, fans surely would love to see fruits reveal themselves through better play over the final 35 games (starting Friday at home against the Suns), whether that’s the core as assembled playing better or pieces of it shipped off before the trade deadline, which comes Feb. 8.
Winning two games in a row, as the Hawks have now done, is a start. Beating the Lakers and LeBron James on Tuesday felt good and was an indication of what a healthy Hawks team can do, Young said, but there’s more to it than that.
“It’s just about being consistent,” he said after the game. “Anybody, any team can do it one night or two nights in a row. You’ve just got to be consistent with it.”
He went on to say that players believe the talent is in place to win games, but that the injury bug has bitten.
“But having guys back now, and hopefully for the rest of the season, it can help us string together some wins and propel us forward to where we want to go and where we need to be,” he said.
Sounds like a plan.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Hawks vs. Suns, 7:30 p.m., BSSE, 92.9
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