Atlanta Hawks
Just Drafted
Find out what's going on with your Atlanta Hawks.
Hawks Team Notes
- Thread starter Atlanta Hawks
- Start date
Atlanta Hawks
Just Drafted
Hawks ease past Wizards as new additions make Atlanta debuts
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...izards-debuts-analysis-breakdown-stats-quotes
Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
Georges Niang, Caris LeVert, and Terance Mann all made their Atlanta debuts in a win over the Wizards.
The Atlanta Hawks notched a second consecutive victory to sweep their back-to-back as they eased by the Washington Wizards on Saturday night at Capital One Arena, 125-111. Trae Young led the Hawks with 35 points and 14 assists, with Zaccharie Risacher added 18 points. For the Wizards, Bub Carrington scored 23 points with Jordan Poole adding 21 points.
Heading into the final affair of the season between the two Southeast Division sides, the Hawks were without Clint Capela (who was on the bench but inactive) in addition to the usual absentees of Jalen Johnson and Kobe Bufkin. The Wizards have almost a starting five worthy absence list, with Alex Sarr, Khris Middleton, Marcus Smart among those not in action last night for the hosts. The recently acquired trio of Georges Niang, Caris LeVert, and Terance Mann were all active for this game having not featured in Friday’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, with Niang getting the nod at starting power forward.
The Hawks looked as though they were going to pull away early behind a 7-2 start but the Wizards recovered and the affair was evenly contested for much of the first half, the Wizards holding a 54-49 point lead with 2:45 remaining in the first half following a poor sequence for the Hawks where they fail to secure a rebound and allow Richaun Holmes to score and prompting a timeout from Hawks head coach Quin Snyder. Following this timeout, it was as if a switch was flicked and the Hawks and Trae Young came out firing out of the timeout and took over the game behind a 9-2 Trae Young run, and an overall 14-4 run to end the half to wipe out the Wizards’ lead and to take a five point lead into the locker-room; a lead the Hawks would not surrender for the rest of the contest.
Young was brilliant in this phase of the game out of the timeout, creating space to get off a three with the step-back:
Young again hit from the outside but with a foot on the line it was ruled a two-pointer as he back-pedals from Poole to drain another jumper:
This time, Young gets downhill and a great screen from Onyeka Okongwu grants Young an open path to the rim in which he finishes:
Young’s playmaking was also on display in this stretch, finding the cutting Georges Niang for the layup at the rim:
Finally, to end the half, Niang does well to slip the screen between the two defenders, forcing Malcolm Brogdon to go with Niang and forcing the switch on the perimeter, with Young immediately punishing the switch and burying the three:
A budding combination between Young and Niang to end the quarter, but overall Young was great down this stretch to end the half and swing the momentum in Atlanta’s favor, and this would continue in the third quarter as Young and Niang would again combine to deadly effect as Niang — having missed his first three three-point attempts in the first half — hit four in a row in the third quarter as the Hawks opened up the beyond the first double-digit lead of the night.
After a Washington turnover, Young receives the ball, sees Niang pass in front of him, leads the defense towards his right and then finds Niang on the weakside, who rises and connects for his first Atlanta three:
For his next three, Niang is again on the weakside, initially beginning near the rim before fanning back to the corner and puts the defender — Poole — in a tough spot deciding between Niang and Dyson Daniels. Young, meanwhile, finds Niang in the corner for the three:
For his third three, Niang is much more involved in the play and engages in the pick-and-pop action, with Young finding Niang who hits another three:
In transition, Niang fills the wing and when Young finds him he continues to show the hot hand and knocks down his fourth three-pointer of the quarter to give the Hawks a 14 point lead:
A great stretch to begin the third quarter from Niang — and from Young to find him on all of those baskets — and between the two of them to end the first half and begin the second half they helped break this game open for the Hawks, who would go on to build a comfortable 21-point lead before the end of the third quarter.
The Hawks would ramp this up to a game-high 23 points to begin the fourth — thanks to a quick start from Risacher — but the Hawks took their foot off the pedal and the Wizards made a run to reduce the Atlanta lead to seven points (missing a couple of attempts to bring it down to four points) but the Hawks recovered, re-establishing their double-digit lead and eventually took home a 14 point victory to sweep the Friday-Saturday back-to-back.
The Wizards, even having rest advantage, are obviously not a brilliant team — an awful team in fact — so the Hawks winning in this spot isn’t too much of a shock, though it was slightly concerning almost seeing them throw away a 23-point lead in the second half. The bigger focus rather than the game itself will more so surround the respective debuts of the Hawks’ three recent acquisitions: Georges Niang, Caris LeVert, and Terance Mann.
Niang we’ve obviously touched on in those crucial stints to the end the first half/begin the second half, and he easily had the most impressive debut of the three by a considerable margin — 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from three to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals in a starting role, playing 26 minutes.
Postgame, Niang wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to starting the game before praising the abilities of Trae Young, who assisted Niang on five of his six baskets last night.
“I didn’t know what to expect honestly,” said Niang when asked if he was surprised to start. “I think the emotions of how everything kind of happened it felt like a fog, then they were like ‘Oh yeah, by the way, you’re starting.’ ... Obviously getting your feet up under, wanting to mesh with what they had going on. I said to someone out there, you watch them beat a Milwaukee team and you’re like ‘I don’t want to come in and mess this up!’ It’s a seamless transition when you have a guy like 11 (Trae Young) finding you and getting the ball up the court at the rate he does, the way he can score, his ability to facilitate. That was easy on myself being a shooter. The starting part, took me for surprise.”
Niang joked about what Young would think of his three missed shots to begin the game before praising Young’s ability to find teammates in their spots.
“To start the game he passed me the ball three times, and I missed three times and I thought ‘I better start making them before this guys is like get this guy off the court,’ joked Niang postgame. “He does a great job of being a heady player and realizing when guys are in their spots and how he can get the ball to them. It’s impressive playing against him to see what he can do and then when you’re playing alongside him it’s even more like ‘Wow, I didn’t realize he had all this to his game.’”
Niang showed some good moments defensively too, and when commented about his defense postgame, Niang was open about his athletic limitations but how his mentality and approach helps overcome these limitations, now in his ninth season in the league drafted 50th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft.
“I think the biggest thing is competing,” said Niang of his defense. “I wasn’t gifted with the sexiest athleticism but getting out there and competing. I think it’s like if you’re at the park: I’m not going to let my guy score. That’s how I’ve been able to somewhat last in this league is just my competitive edge on that end where I’m not going to be a guy you constantly pick on or think you can go at.”
With Jalen Johnson out for the remainder of the season, Niang is the ideal candidate to start at the four with his ability to stretch the floor, his off-ball movement, as well as his toughness. He opens up the floor for Trae Young which helps not just Young operate but open up opportunities for Niang himself with Young’s passing ability, and last night gave everyone a glimpse of the dynamic Niang can add to this team.
Moving on to Caris LeVert and Terance Mann, they didn’t have quite as smooth debuts as Niang.
Both came off the bench but struggled to make a similar impact last night. LeVert was limited by foul trouble, picking up three fouls inside the first quarter and five for the game in total in just 15 minutes of action. LeVert scored nine points on 2-of-6 shooting and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. When he was on the floor, it looked as though Daniels was doing more ball handling but I’m interested to see LeVert handle more in the second unit coming up. Mann, on the other hand, played 24 minutes and scored four points in that time. Mann is known more for his defense, but I thought his overall defense wasn’t brilliant last night and needed help from his big a few times on drives. Mann had a couple decent contests at the rim, but defensively off the dribble he was a little disappointing last night on his debut, and combined with just four points offensively there will be better nights for Mann, and LeVert too with his foul issues.
Elsewhere across the roster, it was a good night for Zaccharie Risacher, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, his work around the rim in particular was good.
Risacher’s off-ball movement was solid, catching the Wizards’ defense off-guard on a few occasions, such as this cut to get free before finishing impressively at the rim amidst the contest to score:
The dangers of a running a zone-defense, eh?
In the fourth quarter, another cut from Risacher gets himself in a golden position, and he receives the ball and finishes at the rim:
Risacher was a threat in the open court too, with this play being the pick of the bunch — and a highlight of the game — as Daniels using his elite length to secure the loose ball, whips it behind his back and finds Risacher streaking ahead for the alley-oop:
This next basket isn’t a finish at the rim but an evolution of Risacher’s game that’s been improving upon recently, and that’s utilizing the pivot. Receiving the pass from Young, Risacher drives into the paint, stops, and he pivots a couple of times before fading away from Brogdon and hitting the jumpshot:
Risacher running and finishing at the rim in transition, his off-ball movement, these are elements that were already in his game heading into this season and easy for him to excel at (he’s good in transition especially) but it’s this type of play that is really encouraging to see in terms of Risacher’s game progressing offensively. He’s experimented at times ducking in and trying to make something happen offensively when he has used his dribble, and these pivot moves have been a little more frequent of late — it’s a good start in progressing his offense inside the arc and creating for himself a little more.
Speaking of creating, Vit Krejci (or, Createji, if you’ll excuse the pun), was really positive last night, flirting with a triple-double — 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists (tying a season-best) in 31 minutes off the bench. Krejci was really dependable off the bench, filling up the boxscore with another steal and two block in addition to the near triple-double.
Krejci deserves credit for his improvement not just last season but this season he’s taken a clear step and between himself, LeVert and Daniels can all handle the ball in the second unit when Young goes to the bench. LeVert can rack up assists, Daniels is clearly improving a lot in this regard (10 assists in the Milwaukee game) and this element is also present in Krejci’s game, it just overall raises the Hawks’ playmaking ceiling that they can have variety in their options offensively. LeVert and Daniels look to get downhill more handling the ball whereas Krejci can pull up and hit jumpshots off the dribble, shooting 4-of-8 from three last night.
Larry Nance Jr. was also very solid off the bench, scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. I worry a bit more about Nance’s place in the rotation once Capela comes back into the fray, and Niang’s addition is obviously not ideal for Nance in theory but Nance is ever the professional in this scenario and deserves credit for his play last night.
All in all, the Hawks played a very strong game — albeit against a poor Wizards side — and this was reflective in their 36 assists (their third best showing of the season in this department) with just 11 turnovers (six of them from Young alone), and 18 made threes on 44 attempts (shooting 40%).
The bench was much better than it has been recently, and that’s with the difficult debuts for Mann, who will undoubtedly score more than four points more often than not. The stars were Young (35 points on 13-of-26 from the field to go with those 14 assists) and Niang, their combined efforts together swung this game on its head, and Risacher was very good in the scoring department too on a very efficient 18 points.
After that, Krejci was excellent off the bench, the additions of Nance were very helpful, and even LeVert’s nine points in (foul) limited action was solid too.
The Hawks (25-28) are back in action on Monday as the second game of a three-game trip takes them to another Southeast Division rival, and for the first time this season, the Orlando Magic (26-28). The Magic’ season slid basically as the Hawks’ season unravelled, winning only three of their last 10 games and all of a sudden are in a scrap for, currently, Play-In seeding — the Hawks are 0.5 games back off the Magic for the eighth seed.
Should be interesting!
Until next time!
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...izards-debuts-analysis-breakdown-stats-quotes
Atlanta Hawks
Just Drafted
Hawks wave wand and dazzle Wiz in third quarter, 125-111
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...ards-nba-recap-trae-young-georges-niang-final
Photo by Kenny Giarla/NBAE via Getty Images
Big game from new Hawk Georges Niang.
The Hawks debuted a new team tonight with the additions of Georges Niang — inserted into the starting lineup at power forward — Caris LeVert and Terance Mann all making their first appearances with the Hawks tonight. With the banged up Washington Wizards on the other side, it was a perfect opportunity to ease that trio into the rotation.
One thing that has been constant this season? Trae Young finding Zaccharie Risacher on cuts:
Terance Mann and Caris LeVert later made their debuts off the bench in the first quarter, but none of the new additions could find their rhythm on the court. In fact, the entire Hawks offense as a whole struggled to get going.
The only consistent scorer in the quarter was Dyson Daniels getting busy driving to the basket:
Later, LeVert registered his first points in a Hawks uniform, the first of the trio to score:
Still, after one quarter, the Hawks trailed 30-26.
The offensive flow was much better in the first portion of the second quarter, with the Hawks pulling virtually even with Washington. Vit Krejci and Dyson Daniels in particular were crisp in getting into the paint and kicking it out to shooters like Larry Nance Jr. and Risacher.
Onyeka Okongwu found Mann on a cut for his first points as a Hawks midway through the second quarter:
But the Hawks had lapses defensively, and the Wizards took advantage over and over.
Trae Young took over late in the second quarter, going on a personal 9-0 run to bolster the Hawks scoring. In fact, he ended the half responsible for Atlanta’s final 14 points, with a dish to Niang the only non-score from Young.
At halftime, the Hawks led 63-58. Young had 23 points and six assists to this point.
Out of the half, Risacher drained his second triple of the contest:
And then Georges Niang went absolutely unconscious, hitting four threes in rapid succession.
That burst stretched out the lead into double digits for the Hawks. From there, guys were breaking out behind the back dribbles and adding flair and fun to the proceedings.
Young even put on a show for the flex cam with this and-1.
After three quarters, the Hawks were cruising 104-83.
The Wizards were able to go on a small run early in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to single digits. It was a reminder that the team needed to lock in and secure the game, regardless of the talent available on the other side.
Atlanta stayed calm and kept some distance from Washington down the stretch.
Atlanta finally put away the Wizards, 125-111.
Trae Young finished with a monster 35-point, 14-assist night including being +36 in plus/minus. Zaccharie Risacher added 18 points and Georges Niang poured in 16 points in his Hawks debut.
The win moves Atlanta to 25-28 with two more games left on the road trip heading into the All-Star weekend break. Next up is Orlando on Monday evening.
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...ards-nba-recap-trae-young-georges-niang-final
Atlanta Hawks
Just Drafted
Hawks have total team effort, defeat Magic 112-106
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...ndo-magic-recap-final-score-latest-news-video
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
Big games from newbies LeVert and Mann.
The Atlanta Hawks were in Orlando on Monday evening to take on the Magic. Coming in on a two-game winning streak, the Hawks were looking to make it three against the Magic and jump them in the standings as they’re neck and neck with each other.
It was a good day for Trae Young, as he started the morning by finding out that he would be an All-Star replacement, and later on, he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
The first points of this game included Trae Young, but it was him assisting on a three-pointer from Mouhamed Gueye.
Gueye was feeling it early in the quarter and got another one to go minutes later.
The Hawks' newcomers have continued to make an impact, and Caris LeVert got this easy layup to go after cutting to the paint.
It was truly a defensive game in the first, but the Hawks were able to keep the lead going into the second quarter. Young kept the assists coming in the first half and found Zaccharie Risacher for an open three-pointer.
Terance Mann, another Hawks’ newcomer, helped increase their lead with a three-pointer of his own.
The Hawks were able to stay in front of the Magic, but they ended up making a run down the stretch to keep things tight. The Magic did take the lead at one point after the Hawks continued to turn the ball over, and they went into halftime with the lead. Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu had a nice two-man game to start the third for an easy layup.
The Hawks kept chipping away in the third and took the lead back. Okongwu called his own number and was able to get the and-one to go. Later on, the Hawks turned defense and offense, with LeVert running the break.
Things were going well for the Hawks, and then Paolo Banchero started to get hot for the Magic. That didn’t affect the Hawks, and they kept it close as the game was tied going into the fourth.
Mann knocked down his second three of the game early in the quarter.
LeVert then got a three to go down later in the quarter.
It kept raining threes in Orlando, and Young got in on the fun, increasing the Hawks’ lead by three points.
The Hawks continued to execute down the stretch of the game on offense and get crucial stops on the other end. The Magic weren’t able to get any shots to go when they needed them, and the Hawks ended up taking the win.
Young finished with 19 points and eight assists, LeVert finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, Mann finished with 12 points, and Daniels finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and four steals.
The Hawks will be back in action against the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...ndo-magic-recap-final-score-latest-news-video
Atlanta Hawks
Just Drafted
Hawks at Magic: start time, TV, streaming, radio, game thread
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...gic-start-time-tv-streaming-radio-game-thread
Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images
Southeast Division battle.
Fresh off being named to the All-Star Game and Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Trae Young leads the Atlanta Hawks Hawks (25-28) against the Orlando Magic (26-28).
Please join in the comments below as you follow along.
Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
Start Time: 7:00 EST PM
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)
Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM), SiriusXM
Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo, NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...gic-start-time-tv-streaming-radio-game-thread
Atlanta Hawks
Just Drafted
Hawks’ New York robbery falls short in overtime loss to Knicks
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...nalysis-video-quotes-trae-young-dyson-daniels
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
The Hawks made an almost improbable comeback but ultimately fell short.
The Atlanta Hawks fell short in an overtime loss to the New York Knicks at Maddison Square Garden on Wednesday night, 149-148. Trae Young led the Hawks with 38 points and 19 assists with Dyson Daniels adding 23 points. For the Knicks — on the second night of a back-to-back — Karl-Anthony Towns scored 44 points with Jalen Brunson adding 36 points.
Heading into the game, the Hawks ran the same starting lineup with Mouhamed Gueye starting at power forward but were dealt further injuries blows ahead of the game as Larry Nance Jr. and Vit Krejci were ruled out for a significant period of time. Nance will be re-evaluated in six weeks while Krejci (lower back contusion) will be re-evaluated in three-four weeks.
Nance is officially ruled out with a right knee injury, but if you want to know the exact injury — because it’s one that I’m sure hasn’t been heard of much before — Nance suffered a a non-displaced fracture of his right medial femoral condyle. Both being only re-evaluated in those respective times gives little hope of an actual return in that time. Nance, I’d be surprised if he plays again this season.
Regardless, it’s another pair of absences that the Hawks have to deal with, which is especially bad news for their big man depth with Nance now out, and the Knicks — and Towns — took advantage. Towns bullied the Hawks on drives and muscled his way to the rim in addition to stretching the floor; it was a completely one-sided matchup at times. The Hawks — and Onyeka Okongwu — did a much better job in the second half containing Towns, but the matchup advantage was still very much in Towns’ favor.
Towns’ found his mojo in the second quarter (18 points), but it was teammate Brunson who had a hot start, scoring 16 points as the Knicks opened up a double-digit lead in the first quarter before outscoring the Hawks 38-29. The Knicks built a game-high 18-point lead in the second quarter before a late run in the second quarter brought the visitors back into play, trailing by eight points at the half.
This initially turned into just a six-point deficit, but another Towns ignition (15 points in the third quarter) helped pull the Knicks away again. Again, the Hawks would close the gap by the end of the third quarter only for it to open up again back to double-digits in the fourth quarter...and just like before, the Hawks closed up as the final quarter progressed — however, the Hawks were still chasing the game and had been chasing it all game long, having never led in the game up to this point.
A Trae Young layup cut the Knicks’ lead to two points with just under 56 seconds remaining, and it looked as though the Hawks were going to have a chance to bring the game down to the wire, but the game got away from the Hawks.
Dyson Daniels does a great job defending Brunson and forcing a contested jumpshot, but when this is missed Precious Achiuwa secures the rebound, fakes, and scores at the rim:
Tough basket here for Georges Niang, who initially has Achiuwa boxed out only for the Knicks’ big to win the offensive rebound, and Okongwu is undone by the fake.
In reply, the Hawks are unable to hit on a Young three, and the loose ball is collected by Josh Hart. He is fouled by Niang while in the bonus with Hart heading to the free throw line where he dispatches both free throws:
When Hart hits the second free throw the game, really, is essentially over — a six point deficit with 18 seconds left...most NBA teams just do not recover from scenarios like this where they’re chasing a two possession game with the shotclock off. However, the Hawks would make a minor miracle happen.
It starts with Hawks head coach Quin Snyder not using his last timeout followed by Niang hitting a three-pointer to bring the game to three points. A good shot, as it goes in the Knicks are still in absolute control: inbound the ball, get it to a white jersey, and ice the game at the line.
In a matter of seconds it goes awry. With Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau not using one of his two remaining timeouts, Towns’ inbounds picked off by Daniels before Towns fouls Daniels at the rim for two free throws:
A horror sequence for the Knicks, and even still they’re in control here — even if not by the extent of which they were before. If Daniels had made both free throws, they still lead by a point and the Hawks still forced to foul — not impossible to overturn now but still in New York’s favor, and they can control their own destiny somewhat if they foul before a three is hoisted. Daniels hits the first free throw, misses the second one — not intentionally — and Okongwu beats Towns to the rebound, gets it back to Daniels, who gets the ball to the curling Young, and Young draws the contact and the foul from Hart, giving Young the chance to tie the game at the line:
“Get out of here,” I have to presume is the also sentiment Okongwu felt as he beat Towns to that rebound (a really bad rebound for Towns to lose). Young ties the game at the line, the Knicks call for time, and out of the timeout Brunson is well-guarded by Daniels and the three is missed. To overtime we go:
The title of this piece I called a robbery, which is what this game absolutely would have been had the Hawks managed to win this game. At no point should this game have gone to overtime with any team leading by six points with 19 seconds left — the Hawks scored six points in seven in-game seconds to tie the game. But the Knicks — and the Hawks, to their credit — made it so.
In overtime, the pendulum seemed to finally swing in the Hawks’ favor, taking their first lead of the game and even building a five-point lead. But behind some missed shots — and two costly LeVert misses at the free throw line — the Knicks recovered and took a three point lead with 1:25 remaining after an Achiuwa basket, open underneath the basket after a blunder from Niang:
There’s nothing to add on this one; it’s just a very costly error from Niang at this stage of the game.
The Hawks responded to cut the lead to one, with Young splitting the defense out of the inbounds play before hitting the giant-killer over Achiuwa:
After a missed Mikal Bridges baseline jumper (which, as a quick note, Bridges was guarded/hidden on multiple occasions by Young, and how/why this wasn’t exploited was inexplicable from the Knicks’ side — Bridges was invisible offensively in this game), the Hawks run a good screen action with screens from Okongwu and Daniels, the latter receiving the ball from Young and delivers the bounce pass beyond Towns to Okongwu, who draws the foul at the rim:
Okongwu knocks both down to give the Hawks a 148-147 lead, but the lead is short-lived. Out of the timeout, Brunson is again guarded by Daniels and is well contested but Brunson knocks down what would turn out to be the game-winning basket:
There’s not a ton more the Hawks can do here — Brunson doesn’t turn the corner enough to warrant LeVert rotating over to help — it’s just a good basket from Brunson over firm defense.
Out of the final timeout, Young is well defended by Bridges, who marshals the drive the whole way (and is credited for a block). Young’s missed shot is rebounded, again, by Okongwu, who kicks the ball out to a semi-open Niang, who misses the three as the buzzer expires:
Ultimately, you couldn’t have asked for more a more optimal look for Niang, especially in a second chance opportunity bought by Okongwu — it just didn’t fall and the Hawks fall in overtime.
The final shot you could view as a microcosm of the game itself: it was a good look in a game the Hawks saw a lot of good look. At least, that was the view of Snyder, who believed the Hawks got good shot opportunities for most of the game.
“I think we got pretty good looks the whole game,” said Snyder. “It was really at the rim we were missing some things and missing some free throws. NBA games are long, and part of the challenge is when you get down is understanding that usually that turns at times. As long as we keep defending we give ourselves a chance to do that, and I think that’s what we did. We started to have some good things happen: ball goes in, you get a turnover, and convert and the momentum shifts. That’s something our guys have done a good job of is not getting buried or discouraged when the ball doesn’t go in.”
The Hawks left a number of shots around the rim, particularly in the first half (shooting a below league average 50% at the rim) but it was the free throws that also hurt the Hawks a lot: 24-of-35 for the game, an overtime game, will always sting that bit more. Young shot 12-of-14 from the line and despite hitting those clutch free throws late in the game, Okongwu shot 3-of-8 from the line, while LeVert’s overtime pair of misses were also difficult for the Hawks.
Speaking of LeVert, other than those free throw misses, he played a great game for the Hawks: 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field to go with 10 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks off the bench. With Krejci now sidelined, in those lineups with Young on the bench there’s going to be more expected from LeVert handling the ball now.
There were some good-looking assists from LeVert last night, including this play where he crashes the offensive glass before finding Niang for a three:
On a drive, LeVert beats Hart and finds Niang again in the corner for three:
In transition, LeVert gets his head up and finds the streaking Zaccharie Risacher for an easy basket:
“It’s really stuff we talk about all the time,” said Snyder when asked about LeVert’s contribution. “Throwing the ball ahead, playing with the pass, having your eyes out when you’re in the lane. He’s embraced it really quickly; that’s where you see him crashing the glass. He’s got the ability to generate offense on his own, but he’s also making plays for other people. After a few games for him to be doing that says a lot about his buy-in to the way we’re trying to play.”
LeVert was one of five Hawks who scored 20 or more points; the Hawks enjoying many productive performances across the board. Niang had some foibles (as we looked at) but scored 21 points hitting four threes, including the three that eventually sent the Hawks to overtime. Okongwu stuffed the stat sheet, scoring 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field (his only miss was a three) to go with 14 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals — he was fantastic on both ends, even if he struggled at times with the Towns matchup. Dyson Daniels played well on both ends of the floor, scoring 23 points, coming up with four steals as he did a great defensive job on Brunson (as good as can be done at times, Brunson is a very good player) and annoyed Towns into ripping the ball away from him.
Daniels’ burst of speed has been enjoyable of late too, his work off the dribble improving as this season has progressed:
Trae Young led the Hawks with 38 points on 11-of-29 shooting, 4-of-11 from three, and 12-of-14 from the line to go with 19 assists, but another eight turnovers for Young again marks a difficult spell maintaining the ball. In his four of his last five games Young has committed at least six turnovers, and is leading the league in turnovers per game at 4.5.
Some of these last night weren’t all his fault — a couple of instances where teammates aren’t looking where the ball is when Young passes to them. Still, there were more than enough turnovers where Young was on the hook, and some of these were quite costly in overtime.
Despite that, Young contributed 19 assists, contributing to the Hawks’ whopping 43 assists, marking new milestones:
Young’s scoring may have been inefficient last night, but the points came when they mattered in the fourth quarter: 16 fourth quarter points for Young, but he seemed to run out of steam somewhat as he shot 2-of-6 in overtime. Other than those eight turnovers, overall, I think this was a good game from Young.
Yes, he was inefficient from the field but 19 assists is just rarified air in the NBA. In the entire NBA, Young has five of the top six assist games this season, with last night’s 19 the latest to make the list. Elfrid Payton is the only other player to feature in this territory with 21 assists. Young’s 22 assists against Cleveland in November leads the NBA.
Elsewhere, Risacher played well; an efficient 6-of-11 and 2-of-4 from three as he scored 16 points. Gueye, however, did not play well in a starter’s role in this contest: scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 from three — and there were some ugly threes. Gueye has had good moments recently but I think this game served as perhaps a reality check that, while Gueye has clearly progressed and can make an impact, he struggles for consistency still, and in this matchup he was badly exposed. The Hawks do actually need him to perform somewhat, as their big man rotation has taken a hit with Clint Capela still on the sidelines and Nance now injured for a significant period of time.
Overall, the Hawks played really well on the road against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Sure, the Knicks were on the second night of a back-to-back — that will always help — but the Hawks were chasing the game all game long and recovered each time the Knicks built the lead back to double-digits. To the Knicks’ credit, this was easy for them at times because there were monster games from Towns and Brunson — they were excellent, each taking over at different times as the game progressed to move the Knicks ahead again. But the Hawks responded each time, and somehow managed to take this game to overtime where it took a game-winner from Brunson to seal the deal.
“I thought we executed really well late,” said Snyder when asked about the final second scoring spurt. “The scoreboard doesn’t always show that, but when you go back, if we’re able to execute like that, you’ll be on the right side of the scoreboard more than the wrong. It’s hard to fault that. We had a great look, one of the best shooters on our team who makes clutch shots, and you tip your hat, go to All-Star break, get a little rest. We had three new players, two guys who were playing in College Park — five of our nine guys who have been here for a week or two. I’m pleased with how they’ve competed together, how connected they are.”
The Hawks, as Snyder alluded to, now enter the All-Star break, which is sorely needed as the team has been hit badly by injuries within the last few weeks. The Hawks (26-29) are next back in action on Thursday February 20th when they take on the Orlando Magic (27-29) at State Farm Arena.
Until next time!
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...nalysis-video-quotes-trae-young-dyson-daniels
Atlanta Hawks
Just Drafted
Two broad goals for the rest of the Atlanta Hawks season
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...is-nba-stats-zaccharie-risacher-dyson-daniels
Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images
What the Atlanta Hawks need to do — on offense and defense — to be successful over their final 24 games.
The Atlanta Hawks picked up their first win in three tries since the All-Star break, beating the Heat by 12-points on Monday night in what could generously be filed away as a “defense-first” affair*; with the two team’s combining to shoot just 34.9% from the floor and 16-for-75 (21.3%) from the perimeter over the course of the contest.
*A stingier writer than myself might use the term “rock fight”
Monday’s game came on the second night of a back-to-back, with the Hawks looking to make amends on the less glamorous end of the floor after being torched by the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night, and while they certainly benefited from a bit of shooting luck*, it’s safe to say that they did just that.
*Miami shot just 11-for-23 (47.8%) at the rim and 7-for-40 (17.5%) from three, culminating in an eye-watering 36.3% effective field goal percentage - the lowest mark by a Hawks opponent this season by nearly 10%!
The Hawks racked up 13 steals (with Dyson Daniels staking his claim for the DPOY award, accounting for seven thefts on his own), gave up just seven fastbreak points, and allowed just 0.716 points per possession (ppp) in the halfcourt, culminating in a stellar 88.7 defensive rating* — tied for their lowest mark in a game this season.
*For reference, Atlanta ranks second in steals per game (10), 26th in fastbreak points allowed (17.1), and 16th in half-court defense (0.968 ppp) this season
While it was great to see the Hawks get back in the win column after two frustrating defeats out of the gate to begin their post All Star break phase of the season, Monday’s victory also carried a extra weight for Atlanta’s postseason chances, as it brought them neck-and-neck with Miami*, within 1.5 games of the seventh-place, Orlando Magic, and five games behind the Detroit Pistons (currently in sixth) in the Eastern Conference Standings.
*The Hawks are also now 2-0 in the season series against Miami, meaning if they can pick up one more victory in their two remaining games against Miami, they’ll have the tiebreaker over them
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25887668/EC_standings_2.25.png)
While Sunday’s defeat to Detroit was a tough blow for the team’s chances of escaping the Play-In Tournament (and a likely first round matchup against one of Cleveland or Boston), Atlanta does benefit from a favorable remaining schedule* — so they still have a shot at the 6-seed with 24 games left to play in the regular season.
*Per Tankathon, the Hawks face the sixth easiest remaining schedule and will play 14 of their next 24 games at home.
Today, let’s outline two overarching goals for the Hawks to achieve over the final 24 games of the regular season.
Finish in the Top-15 in Defensive Rating (dare I say the top-10?)
Prior to the season, I predicted that the Hawks would finish the regular season with a top-20 defensive for the first time since 2020-21* and with a little less than seven weeks to go, they rank 15th in defensive rating, allowing 113.4 points per 100 possessions.
*I also predicted that they would finish with a top-10 offense, which has not aged too well… but we like to focus on the positives here at Peachtree Hoops
Will they remain in the top-15 by the time the season is up? Miami ranks 10th in defensive rating this season, allowing 112.1 points per 100 possessions, sure Atlanta can’t sneak their way into the top-10… right?
The Hawks have finished in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating in each season since drafting Trae Young seven years ago. The last time they finished in the top-15 was in 2016-17 when their three leaders in minutes played were Denis Schroder, Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard.
This season, spearheaded by Dyson Daniels, the Hawks have been more bloodthirsty on the defensive end of the floor — ranking fourth in opponent turnover percentage and third in steal rate — which has helped to spark a defensive resurgence in Atlanta.
That being said, despite ramping up the defensive activity, the Hawks have had a really tough time forcing misses when their opponents do get off a shot, ranking in the bottom three in opponent effective field goal percentage (eFG%). While it’s frankly incredible that Atlanta have still managed to field a competent defense in spite of the sky-high opponent shooting percentages (the other four teams* who rank in the bottom five in opponent eFG% all rank 22nd or worse in defensive rating), it’s clear that something has to change in this area for this team to reach the next level defensively.
*Philadelphia, New Orleans, Utah and Brooklyn
We looked at Atlanta’s season long defensive shot profile not too long ago, which revealed two main issues. The first is that the Hawks have simply been lit up from beyond the three-point arc, ranking 25th in opponent three-point percentage*. The second is that they’re allowing too many shots at the rim, ranking 23rd in opponent rim-shooting frequency**, and 28th in opponent points in the paint.
*Despite conceding “wide open” three-pointers at a league-average rate
While they’ve done a better job running their opponents off the three-point line as of late, allowing the fifth-lowest opponent three-point attempt rate over their last ten games, this has put more pressure on their interior defense, which has struggled to rise to the challenge — with Atlanta ranking 29th in opponent two-point percentage over this stretch.
The good news is that this Hawks team has proved that they will not shy away from giving their all on the defensive end of the floor this season, and they have added some strong defenders to the rotation over the past few weeks in Mo Gueye and Terance Mann to help bolster their weaknesses.
Once Atlanta’s new lineups get more comfortable playing together, and their new additions get up to speed with their defensive philosophy, we could be in for a few more lockdown defensive performances this season.
The conservative goal is to finish the season in the upper half of the league in defensive rating, but I believe this team has the talent to finish in the top-ten. They have 24 games to show what they can do.
Shoot league-average or better from the perimeter
While the Hawks have impressed on the defensive end of the floor this season, the same cannot be said about their offense, which has taken a step back in 2024-25.
Atlanta ranks just 20th in offensive rating this season — a mark that, should it hold for the remainder of the season, would be the team’s worst finish in offensive rating since the 2019-20 season.
Looking at the team’s offensive shot profile, while they have done a good job generating shots from high-value areas of the floor (ranking fifth in rim-shooting frequency and 17th in three-point attempt rate), they haven’t shot it all that efficiently from these areas - ranking just 23rd in rim FG% (64.3%) and 22nd in three-point FG% (34.9%).
While it’s clear that they need to be more efficient from both inside and outside the arc, I believe that if they can raise the potency of their three-point shooting attack, their efficiency from inside the arc will follow.
The Hawks generate “wide-open” threes* at the seventh-highest rate in the league, yet have converted them at just a 37.5% clip — tied for the sixth-lowest conversion rate on these attempts. They also rank in the 20th in catch-and-shoot three-point shooting efficiency.
*three-point attempts with the closest defender 6+ feet away
Both of these marks make it easier for defenders to prioritize defending the paint (a higher value area of the floor on a points per shot basis) instead of closing out on a potential three-point shooter which can throw a wrench into Atlanta’s offensive flow.
Now there’s no magic button that Landry Fields or Quin Snyder can press that will automatically improve the team’s outside shooting percentages* — this improvement has to happen internally.
*If there was, I assure you it would have been pressed by now
That being said, new additions Georges Niang, Caris LeVert, and Terance Mann can all shoot, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher are converting their three-point attempts at 50% and 43.9% clips over their last ten games, respectively*.
*Daniels has taken two threes per game while Risacher has taken 4.1 threes per game over this stretch
Slowly but surely, this team is figuring things out on the offensive end. If they manage to catch fire from the perimeter for a couple of games, it’s going to be very fun to watch, and I’ll be interested to see the effect this could potentially have on the team’s interior finish numbers as well.
Atlanta is back in action tomorrow, taking on the Miami Heat on the road in a rematch of last night’s matchup, where they’ll will be hoping for a repeat performance on the defensive end of the floor.
Tip-off for that one is at 7:30 pm EST on FanDuel Sports Network.
All statistics/videos used in this article are from cleaningtheglass.com, pbpstats.com, nba.com/stats, bball-index.com, or dunksandthrees.com
Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2025...is-nba-stats-zaccharie-risacher-dyson-daniels