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ATLANTA- The Atlanta Hawks pulled off their third straight win this week against the Miami Heat, defeating them 120-110. The Hawks had control for most of the game despite the frustrations with officiating during certain points. Nonetheless, they continued to show their resiliency and down the stretch, leaned on their defense to pull away and get the win. Jalen Johnson once again had an efficient game, finishing with 28 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, and shooting 13 for 20 from the field.
“Tonight, we did a great job of staying in the moment and not getting too flustered when they went on a run,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we did a good job of taking care of the ball. That’s going to win us a lot of basketball games if we’re able to cut down on the turnovers and, more importantly, executing down the stretch.”
In a game where Trae Young didn't have it going scoring-wise, Johnson came up big, making the right read, whether it was a pass to Garrison Mathews for a three, a lob to Clint Capela, or taking matters into his own hands and scoring in the paint.
“We have a thing called RBC we say in the locker room, which is read before the catch,” Johnson said. “0.5 seconds and make a decision. I think I’ve been doing a better job of that.”
“Sometimes, it’s what you’re capable of doing, and it’s the situation itself,” Quin Snyder said about Johnson. “Is there an opening where he can go to the rim? Is the rim guarded? He has his eyes out. Him making those reads, I think is the key thing for him.
“The box score on Jalen can look different every game based on how he’s being defended and how other people are being defended. My biggest thing for him, and he knows this, I want him to read the situation before he gets the ball and make really quick decisions. Because when he does that, the defense doesn’t catch back up to him, and you see a lot of things he’s capable of doing.”
Hawks defeat Heat for third straight win
Not only did Jalen Johnson have an efficient game, but De'Andre Hunter once again came off the bench and gave the Hawks a much-needed boost, finishing with 26 points. Hunter knocked down a couple of threes, which opened up his ability to drive the lane and make plays for his teammates. On defense, he had to do a little bit of everything, with his main assignment of guarding Tyler Herro.
“The way that he’s finishing and getting the foul, I just think his reads are really efficient,” Quin Snyder said. “That’s a credit to him and the plan that he has when he comes in the game. During the minutes that he’s in here, he’s stabilizing. He had to guard Herro with Dyson [Daniels] out, which is a heck of a matchup, and then he’s wrestling with Bam [Adebayo] in the post. I’ve said it before: he’s a guy as a coach that you love to have on your team.”
With the Hawks down three rotation players in Daniels, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Onyeka Okongwu, the second unit was still able to step up, with three players coming off the bench scoring in double digits.
“A lot of our guys found themselves in different situations,” Snyder said. “I thought the execution on defense was solid.”
If there's anything that the Hawks have learned about themselves this week, it is that they are resilient, and their defense will be key to winning games this season. As they head on this two-week road trip, they'll need to keep those things in mind.
