The Atlanta Hawks were in New Orleans on Sunday evening to face the Pelicans. Both teams came into the game with multiple injuries to key players. The Pelicans were missing Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, and Zion Williamson.
The Hawks are still missing De’Andre Hunter, Kobe Bufkin, Vit Krejci, and Bogdan Bogdanovic, but were able to get Dyson Daniels back.
Daniels showed his impact early in the game with this floater.
The Hawks got to an early lead, and Zaccharie Risacher was the beneficiary of that, scoring nine first-quarter points.
Both Daniels and Risacher worked to turn defense into offense on this play.
The Pelicans fought back down the stretch of the first, but the Hawks still went into the second leading 33-30. It was once again another back-and-forth quarter, but Garrison Mathews opened it up with a three-pointer after his strong game on Friday against the Sacramento Kings.
The Pelicans started to build a lead midway through the quarter, but the Hawks were able to find a rhythm and get the lead back.
Jose Alvarado got the Pelicans the lead with a few seconds left in the game, and the Hawks went into halftime down 59-58.
The Hawks came out firing to start the second half, going on a 7-0 run and taking the lead. Daniels found Jalen Johnson on the break for this and-one dunk later in the quarter.
Trae Young had a solid third quarter, getting a few assists and knocking down some three-pointers as well. The Hawks had a lead as large as 12 points in the third quarter.
Larry Nance Jr. threw down this monster down late in the third quarter, getting the Hawks bench excited on the other end.
Going into the fourth, the Hawks led by eight points, and they continued to extend the lead early. Johnson channeled his inner Nance from the previous quarter and threw down a monster dunk for himself.
After that moment, the Hawks pulled far away from the Pelicans, as they got three steals in a row and scored on all of the possessions. From there, the game was out of reach, and the Hawks were able to walk out of New Orleans with a win.
Johnson finished with 29 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, Young finished with 23 points and 12 assists, and Daniels finished with 16 points.
The Hawks will be back at home tomorrow to face the Boston Celtics.
