Despite playing on the second night of a back to back, the Hawks managed to extend their winning streak to four games tonight against the Utah Jazz. It was far …
Despite playing on the second night of a back to back, the Hawks managed to extend their winning streak to four games tonight against the Utah Jazz.
It was far from a perfect win, especially on the defensive end of the floor, but Atlanta remained perfect on their current four game road trip thanks to special performances from Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Vit Krejci. On top of that, the Hawks shooting performance allowed them to get away from Salt Lake City with a win.
Here are our biggest takeaways from tonight’s game.
1 Monster games from Jalen and Onyeka
If the campaign for Jalen Johnson to make the All-Star game had not started, it should now. Johnson made NBA history by having the first statline that consisted of 31 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists, and seven steals, shooting 10-19 from the floor and 4-5 from three.
Johnson has had to take on a massive role with Trae Young out and while Utah is far from elite on defense, Johnson carved them up with precision passing and quick decision making.
He was not alone though. It was a career night for Onyeka Okongwu, who got the start for Atlanta in place of Kristaps Porzingis. Okongwu shot 8-13 from three and finished with a career-high 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Okongwu is arguably the Hawks most underrated player and continues to get better and better.
2. Tough night on Defense
This was a good win for the Hawks considering the circumstances, this was their worst defensive performance maybe all season.
Utah was able to shoot 49% from the field and 43% from three (19-44) and they were led by Lauri Markkanen, who scored 40 points tonight. A 109.7 defensive rating is not something to be proud of, but let’s see if the Hawks can rebound from this performance when they face the Suns on Sunday.
3. Terrific Shooting Night
It was an unbelievable shooting night for the Hawks. They hit 15 threes in the first half of tonight’s game, which tied the franchise record for made threes in a half. They finished with 24 three pointers for the night and it was another terrific performance by Vit Krejci.
Krejci has been hot shooting this road trip and continued it tonight. He finished the game 6-8 from three and 20 points total. It was not just him though.
Johnson was 4-5 from three, Okongwu was 8-14, and Kennard was 4-7. They took advantage of a poor Utah defense and had their best offensive performance in a week.
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Source: Utah News