RSS Hawks Team Notes

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks hang 25 threes but fall short against defending champion Thunder

The Atlanta Hawks suffered a seventh consecutive loss as they fell to a 140-129 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night at Paycom Arena. Without Trae Young and Jalen Johnson, the Hawks were led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s 30 points, while Onyeka Okongwu added 26 points and 14 rebounds. For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points, while Chet Holmgren added 24 points.

Heading into this contest, without Young and Johnson — the team’s two leading assist-makers and two primary scorers — there wasn’t a ton of optimism or hope for the Hawks heading on the road, having lost six straight games, to face the NBA’s defending champions.

Alexander-Walker stepped into the starting lineup alongside Vit Krejci, who the Hawks focused on creating three-point opportunities early in the first quarter (attempting five of his 10 threes in the first quarter). While Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points in the first, he was all but matched by Okongwu’s 14 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from three in the opening frame as the Hawks kept pace with the Thunder. The Hawks bookended a strong first quarter with this incredible shot made by Alexander-Walker: a left-handed, half-court, contested heave:

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Genuinely, one of the better shots you’ll see this season anywhere: off hand, contested, pushed up against the sideline, and obviously the distance. A great way to end a great quarter for the Hawks.

Heading into the game, realistically, the Hawks were extremely unlikely to win this game, but as it unfolded Atlanta found a recipe that worked in this game, providing them a chance to run with the Thunder: three-point shooting. After hitting seven threes in the first quarter, the Hawks hit another seven in the second quarter as they just committed to shooting over 50 threes in this game (reported by FanDuel Sports’ Mat Winer on the sideline during the game) and see what that takes them.

Well, it took the Hawks to a 10-point lead in the second quarter against all the odds, and it was done by committee. Keaton Wallace and Krejci both hit three threes, while Zaccharie Risacher, Okongwu, and Luke Kennard all hit two threes each in the first half.

The Thunder, however, recovered from this setback, and a 12-2 run soon tied the game again. Jalen Williams and Holmgren began to make their impact known in the second quarter; the Hawks struggling to contain Williams’ drives, such as this drive on Mo Gueye (plus the foul):

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Defended by Alexander-Walker this time, Williams still manages to drive straight to the rim and his size helps finish over his defender:

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Simultaneously, Holmgren’s superior size began to show, as he battles Alexander-Walker for position, and off the miss from Williams, Holmgren is able to collect the offensive rebound and score the putback:

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On the pick-and-roll, Okongwu — Holmgren’s defender — has to show, and this allows Holmgren to roll to the rim, and with this lineup on the floor for the Hawks there’s just no one who’s going to able to prevent Holmgren from scoring on the alley-oop, so long as it’s well delivered, and Ajay Mitchell finds Holmgren:

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After a missed three from Cason Wallace, Holmgren wrestles with Risacher and wins the offensive rebound, falls to the floor, gets up, and hits the flip shot:

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Another buzzer-beater — courtesy of Dyson Daniels this time — gave the Hawks a 74-70 lead heading into halftime in a high-scoring affair. However, the Thunder came out of the locker-room with more intent, a small scoring burst for Lu Dort, offensive rebounding from Holmgren, and some made shots by Wallace, Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander quickly put the Thunder up 98-83. It was perhaps the most telling run of the night, highlighting the gulf between the two teams and what would actually happen in this game if the Hawks’ three-point shooting dried up for a stretch, as it did to begin the third quarter.

“We knew they had the capability, and that’s something they’ve done consistently is raise their level in the third quarter,” said Hawks head coach Quin Snyder of the third quarter. “We got stagnant. During that stretch we weren’t getting good shots, and we turned the ball over, all of a sudden, the lead bumped. By the same token, we found it again and sometimes that’s even harder to do. There were a lot of things in this game our guys can take forward. Some of the mistakes we made are things we can control; we helped from the strong side a couple of times late, which ended up in threes. Getting back in transition, we weren’t shifted quite as much to prevent some of those drives … those are some things we can do better.”

The Hawks found their feet again offensively, hitting another five threes in the third and dug in to reduce the Thunder’s lead back down to three points with 1:12 remaining in the third, before a three from Alex Caruso and four points for Gilgeous-Alexander in the final minute pushed the hosts’ lead back out to 10 to begin the fourth quarter. Three threes to open the fourth quarter kept the Hawks within touching distance of the Thunder, and another three from Risacher cut the lead to four points, 129-125, with 4:07 remaining, and an OKC timeout.

It was after this timeout that the Thunder delivered the hammer blow that would pull the hosts away from the determined Hawks for good. It begins with a made three from Caruso in the corner off the find from Gilgeous-Alexander:

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A difficult one here for the Hawks as Risacher ends up in a bad spot, switched onto Gilgeous-Alexander. Daniels edges over, likely in an attempt to cover off the probable turnaround free throw line jumper by Shai. Caruso plays this well; waiting for the head turn by Daniels before relocating to the corner, and by the time Daniels turns his head again it’s already too late, and Shae finds Caruso who hits the three despite the Daniels contest.

A made three by Alexander-Walker resets the lead to four, but the Thunder quickly push it back to seven as the drive from Gilgeous-Alexander draws both Daniels and Okongwu, before Gilgeous-Alexander kicks it out to Williams, who drives it before kicking it back out to Holmgren who hits the three:

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I don’t think the Hawks really do anything wrong here. Daniels is wrong-footed by Shae (which happens to a lot of people, no shame in that as a defender), Okongwu probably doesn’t expect Daniels to recover as well as he does and I don’t think Okongwu can be faulted for going with the drive. Alexander-Walker does well here to play the passing lane to what would be an open Wallace in the corner, defends the Williams drive as well as he can given how he has to position himself in the event Williams does swing it to Wallace. This forces Okongwu to delay closing out to Holmgren in case Williams pulls up, and even then Okongwu gets a decent contest on the much taller Holmgren. Elsewhere, Daniels does well to position himself back to Wallace, Krejci has Gilgeous-Alexander covered inside, Risacher sticks to Caruso in that corner — I think the Hawks defend this well despite the made three.

The Hawks get a good look in response, as the two-man game of Alexander-Walker and Okongwu draws three to the ball. Meanwhile, Risacher fans out to open space as Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t follow, as Okongwu delivers the ball to Risacher who misses the three:

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Personally, I support those threes from Risacher; the threes where he keeps the ball high on the catch and releases straightaway. If he brings it down and back up, Wallace gets a much better contest and the result is arguably the same. But this way, it creates a more open look for Risacher, and while it’s unfortunate he misses, it’s a good shot for him and the Hawks.

A miss from the Thunder, a split pair of free throws from Alexander-Walker, followed by another pair of misses from OKC after the offensive rebound, and the Hawks have a chance to reduce the lead. Okongwu finds himself with a great matchup against Wallace in the paint, and when Okongwu fakes to let Holmgren fly by he seems to have an easy shot inside. However, Wallace gets his hand on the ball and is credited for the block as the ball flies high and into the hands of the Thunder:

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At the end of that play, Krejci skies to fight for the rebound with Caruso and hits the deck, and this has a big impact on the following play as Wallace is open in the corner. The ball is swung to Wallace and as he rises, Krejci rushes into frame but can’t deter the shot and Wallace hits the three:

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With the game getting close to getting beyond reach for the Hawks, Okongwu is judged to commit the offensive foul on Holmgren as he hands off to Kennard in the corner:

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A bit of embellishment perhaps from Holmgren sells it, but watching this live you got the sense immediately how this was going to be called as Okongwu moves into Holmgren’s path.

A miss from Gilgeous-Alexander — who was surprisingly poor making shots in the clutch here — hands the Hawks a reprieve but it’s immediately dashed as Kennard’s pass in picked off by Caruso, who offloads it to Holmgren, whose size is unmatched in the lane as he takes off for the dunk for the game’s final basket, and to put the Hawks out of reach for good:

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While the result is another loss — and now a seventh straight loss — the Hawks, similar to their last game against the Knicks, found themselves discussing another moral victory, with Snyder praising the effort of his shorthanded group against the defending champions.

“I say there’s no such thing as moral victories,” began Snyder postgame. “But with the guys that we had out, for this group to compete on the level that they did against the reigning world champions, to be down four with four minutes to play, particularly after the third quarter. We talked about how they’re really good in the third quarter, and they were, but we were resilient during that stretch. This is one of those moments regardless of the score that you feel really proud to coach a team. Right down the line, the effort we had, the competitiveness, the unselfishness; to me, those are the things that I want to see on the court, no matter what it turns out to on the score. Over time, that’s what wins.”

I don’t think it’s ideal to be, for essentially the second game in a row, preaching moral victories in the midst of a seven-game losing streak and the season unravelling somewhat, but in this case it’s more justifiable than the New York game. In the absence of Young and Johnson, the Hawks still reached 129 points, they went beyond their NBA-leading average of 31 assists with 32 on the night, they hit 25 three-pointers, they limited the Thunder to 10 offensive rebounds (helped in part by the absence of Isaiah Hartenstein) — there honestly isn’t a ton more you could have asked of the Hawks in this spot against this level of competition. On the assists front, it really was playmaking by committee: seven assists from Daniels, six from Okongwu, and five apiece from Kennard and Alexander-Walker contributed all game long.

Alexander-Walker was excellent in the second half, scoring 20 of his 30 points, shooting 11-of-24 from the field and 6-of-14 from three for the night. Alexander-Walker balanced his ability to drive and finish at the rim with his outside shooting and was key to the Hawks’ opening in the fourth quarter with two three-pointers.

Okongwu, similarly, played a very good game: 26 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, 8-of-16 from the field, 3-of-6 from three, and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. A difficult matchup for Okongwu, but at the moment every matchup is a difficult matchup on paper for Okongwu, who is asked with, essentially, playing four/five inches taller than his size — and in the context of a Holmgren matchup, even more than that. But Okongwu has been great in these last two games, and there isn’t really more you can ask of him: he’s grabbing rebounds, he’s been making plays (another six assists last night), and he’s been hitting outside shots.

With Young and Johnson out, there was an opportunity for extended minutes across the roster. Krejci started and played 4 minutes, scoring 18 points and shooting 4-of-10 from three. Krejci played well, but I worry the Hawks are trying to force some three-point looks for him that aren’t always open. Luke Kennard got a far extended run, playing 30 minutes last night and scoring 12 points, shooting 4-of-8 from the field and 3-of-6 from three.

It was good to see Kennard get actual minutes and, finally, some good looks at three. Kennard is often quickly closed down and has had limited opportunities shooting the ball (and getting onto the court), so it was a good game for Kennard to showcase his skillset, not just shooting the ball but five assists as well. Keaton Wallace was productive in the first half hitting three three-pointers, and Mo Gueye had some good defensive moments at times in his 10 minutes.

Asa Newell got an extended run of 20 minutes, scoring nine points on 3-of-8 shooting. Of course, in the midst of all these extended minutes across the roster, Risacher can still only log just over 20 minutes, playing 22 last night, scoring 12 points on 4-of-9 from the field and 4-of-8 from three — I’ve given up trying to figure out Snyder’s minutes distribution for Risacher at this stage; how does he maintain his average 20-ish minutes on a night like last night? A mystery. Elsewhere, I thought it was interesting that the entire bench unit was positive in plus/minus, while every starter — other than Alexander-Walker (minus+2) — was, at best, at least minus+17.

The story of the game was the three-point shooting, the Hawks shooting 25-of-54 from three (46.4%), outscoring the Thunder 75-36 from beyond the arc. It was a planned strategy from the beginning.

“We wanted to shoot 50 threes,” said Snyder. “They’re so good defensively. During that stretch where we struggled, we didn’t have our eyes out and we tried to challenge Holmgren and those guys at the rim. That’s just a lower percentage play. We got through that, the ball changed sides and we were able to drive again, and then we did have our eyes out. That’s what generates our threes, that, and running.”

Alexander-Walker led with six threes, but beyond that it was three by committee: Krejci and Risacher hit four threes, Okongwu, Kennard, and Wallace all hit three threes, and Newell hit two threes. The only player who didn’t hit a three who attempted one was Daniels, who was 0-of-1 from distance and, again, his one attempt didn’t look good.

I initially believed that Daniels’ struggles shooting the three early in the season could be attributed to a hand injury of some sort, but all of a sudden, it’s nearly halfway through the season and he’s shooting 12.7% from three on 1.7 attempts per game after shooting 34% on 3.1 attempts last season. It’s really bad, and the seems to be no explanation as to what has caused this struggle from three to persist this far into the season. Other than that, Daniels had a good game (13 points, six rebounds, seven assists) but the three-point dropoff is just mystifying.

From the Thunder’s perspective, Gilgeous-Alexander was excellent, scoring 39 points on an efficient 15-of-24 from the field, but was off shooting the ball in the clutch, which might have been interesting for the Hawks on another night perhaps. The Thunder essentially offset the three-point differential (75-36) with their paint points differential (70-36), to go with 16 second chance points, and 23 fastbreak points, shooting 54% from the field.

It was always going to be difficult for the Hawks to slow the Thunder down; the only chance they stood was to try outscore them, and they almost achieved it. It was a valiant effort given the circumstances, but the losing streak now sits at seven and the road ahead isn’t easy. The Hawks (15-19) are back in action on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (21-12) on the road.

…Until next time!

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/anal...homa-city-nba-analysis-breakdown-video-quotes

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks at Thunder: start time, TV, streaming, radio, game thread

I don’t even think divine intervention can save the Atlanta Hawks (15-18) down Young, Johnson, Porzingis and others against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder (27-5).

Please watch anyway and join in the comments below as you follow along.

Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen​

Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK

Start Time: 8:00 PM EDT

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)

Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)

Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/atla...der-start-time-tv-streaming-radio-game-thread

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

The latest on Anthony Davis rumors

The Atlanta Hawks have been bad over the past month-plus. The Atlanta Hawks’ defense has been atrocious over the past month-plus.

With this season not going the way any of us had hoped, rumors have begun swirling about a roster shakeup to kickstart the team.

Earlier this month, I walked through scenarios involving Giannis Antetokounmpo trades to both the Knicks and the Hawks.

What a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade would mean for the Hawks

Now, Anthony Davis is the trade target du jour based on the rumor mill grapevine.

The latest from NBA insider Marc Stein for his substack late last Sunday has a lot on those ties between ‘AD’ and the Hawks:

The Dallas Mavericks have started this season 12-22 making them a longshot to even make the playoffs in the rough and tumble Western Conference. Davis has yet to play more than five games in a row for his new team, and he’s currently sidelined with a groin injury. He also could be on the salary cap books for over $175 million over the next three years if he decides to pick up a 2027-28 player option.

Still, he remains an All-Star level player when healthy, and upper-level defender and rebounder, and seems to plug the biggest hole in the roster for Atlanta (if someone sprinkles him with fairy dust that causes him to avoid muscle injuries).

The Hawks are a real-deal suitor for Davis. Just how far, though, are they willing to go in terms of a Davis offer?

[Chris] Haynes also reported that Trae Young would not be included in such a swap, but that creates potential financial obstacles for a franchise not exactly known for lavish spending.

Davis is owed $58.5 million next season and is likewise known to be eager to secure an extension in August when he becomes eligible for one … whether that’s with the Mavericks or a team that acquires him.

Young, however, holds a $49 million player option for 2026-27. There is a growing belief leaguewide that the Hawks are more open to trading him away more than they’ve ever been, but what happens to their payroll if no such trade materializes and Young winds up exercising that option? Can the Hawks dare to find out by trading for Davis this winter without Young exiting at the same time?

Hard to imagine that.

The Hawks nonetheless do appear to be the most determined suitor for David at this juncture with just under six weeks to go until the Feb. 5 trade buzzer.

It is also increasingly believed that Atlanta is willing to surrender Zaccharie Risacher in the proverbial right scenario, since the No. 1 overall pick in the draft just 18 months ago has not developed as the Hawks would have hoped this point. Yet even if the Hawks are prepared to package Risacher with the expiring contracts held by Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kennard for Davis, it’s unclear how much additional draft compensation they would be willing (or able) to add to the deal to convince the Mavericks part with Davis in-season.

Just to be clear once again: Jalen Johnson and the 2026 unprotected first-round pick that the Hawks acquired from New Orleans to set the Pelicans up to draft Derik Queen are widely presumed to be untouchables from Atlanta’s perspective.

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What do you think? Would you part with Zaccharie Risacher to acquire Anthony Davis? Or is he just too injury-prone to trust? Please discuss (responsibly) below.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/atla...t-trae-young-jalen-johnson-zaccharie-risacher

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks break losing streak before new year, defeat Timberwolves 126-102

The Atlanta Hawks were in action on New Year’s Eve to face the Timberwolves. The losing has continued for the Hawks, as it has jumped to seven games after their defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The good news for the Hawks is that they got Jalen Johnson and Kristaps Porzingis back, but they missed Trae Young for a second straight game with a right quad contusion.

Zaccharie Risacher started it off for the Hawks with a three-pointer.

A French Open pic.twitter.com/qhdvBmdLql

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

The Hawks used ball movement to get open shots in the first, which led to this Jalen Johnson jumper.

Nickeil handles

JJ triple pic.twitter.com/tjyGcNtOVf

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

The Hawks kept the lead through the first due to their shot-making and defense. Porzingis didn’t make his first three shots, but he did knock down this deep three-pointer.

KP from McDonough pic.twitter.com/wFmjSbb8Cx

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

Asa Newell did his work on the glass in the first, and got this putback flush to extend the Hawks’ lead. Going into the second quarter, the Hawks led 33-26

Air Asa on the follow pic.twitter.com/IwCtwyOoT7

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

Luke Kennard got it started for the Hawks in the second.

Luuuuuke pic.twitter.com/thQImDtSPd

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

Johnson and Porzingis connected in the quarter for this one-handed alley.

KP with the touch! pic.twitter.com/wLhXROPHdS

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

The Hawks kept running up the score, as they continued to turn their defense into offense. Johnson was the beneficiary of that, and got a free lane to the rim.

Jalen steal & slam pic.twitter.com/ngx5ITGjER

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

The hustle the Hawks had in the first half was unmatched, and they showed who wanted the ball more on this possession.

What just happened pic.twitter.com/VkSxhu6DBs

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

They kept the pressure on the Timberwolves to end the first half, and they led 70-49.

The Timberwolves tried to make it a game in the third quarter and cut down their deficit, but the Hawks stayed afloat. Johnson pulled out his quarterback skills midway through the third and found Risacher for the touchdown pass.

Jalen touchdown pass to Zacch pic.twitter.com/5JxhLEEeuz

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

Johnson got into his bag of tricks later in the quarter and put the moves on Rudy Gobert.

Jalen put the moves on and Nickeil couldn't believe it pic.twitter.com/Gme5QY7BPr

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

The Hawks were able to end the third on a good note, and held the Timberwolves to only 24 points despite their start to the quarter. Going into the fourth, the Hawks led 98-73.

Dyson Daniels had a sneaky good stat line in this game, and it was his able to get into the lane and make things happen, similar to this.

Dyson to the rack pic.twitter.com/TqFe3MuGJi

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

This was the play that probably made head coach Chris Finch wave the white flag almost halfway through the fourth.

Hawks Flyinggggggg pic.twitter.com/5XP6XmZO4T

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 31, 2025

Later on in the quarter, the Quin Snyder also pulled his starters, and the Hawks finally walked away with a win.

Johnson finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, Okongwu finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, Porzingis finished with 16 points, and Daniels finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists.

The Hawks will be back in action on Friday against the New York Knicks.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/reca...k-before-new-year-defeat-timberwolves-126-102

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks snap seven-game skid as Johnson, Porzingis return in win over T’Wolves

The Atlanta Hawks ended 2025 with a victory, ending a losing streak of seven straight games as they took a comfortable 126-102 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves at State Farm Arena on Wednesday afternoon. While Trae Young (right quad contusion) missed a second consecutive game, Jalen Johnson returned to the starting lineup and led the Hawks with 34 points to go with 10 rebounds, while Onyeka Okongwu added 17 points. For the Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards scored 30 points, while Julius Randle added 19 points.

The Hawks, perhaps unsurprisingly given their current form, were considered underdogs heading into their final game of 2025 against a Timberwolves side who currently sit sixth in the Western Conference, knocking on the door of a top-4 seed. The first quarter was a fairly even affair, with the Hawks maintaining a narrow advantage.

A strong opening quarter from Anthony Edwards (14 points) kept the Wolves close, but the Hawks quickly blew the doors off the Timberwolves’ challenge in what proved to be a decisive second quarter which the Hawks won 37-23. The Hawks found their momentum, took advantage of some poor Minnesota offense, and got out in transition and quickly racked up the points to take a lead as high as 22 points in the second quarter.

With the Hawks’ lead teetering close to double-digits, a three-pointer from Kristaps Porzingis in the corner after a good screen from Dyson Daniels gets the run started:

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We’ll chat much more about Porzingis later but, for now, he plays a key role in this second quarter run, and we’ll see him again shortly.

After a missed shot from Bones Hyland (a settled three-point shot above the break), the Hawks put up another three, courtesy of Luke Kennard off of the hand-off from Daniels:

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A good flash-through from Porzingis here — who teams will know looks to get to the block for a face-up jumpshot — and he takes two defenders away from the action, and Daniels finds Kennard, who never needs a ton of space from beyond the arc.

The Wolves, again, settle for a contested jumpshot behind the arc, this time it’s Naz Reid who elects to take this jumpshot with Asa Newell in close proximity to put up a good contest:

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Turnovers did not help the Minnesota cause in the first half, committing 11 in total, and even this turnover was less costly than most as it’s a dead-ball turnover as the pass from Hyland sails through the hands of Jaden McDaniels and out of bounds:

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The Hawks continue their run as the ball is swung, then driven inside by Kennard, who does a good job to draw two defenders — and, critically, Rudy Gobert — before finding Daniels at the rim for the easy basket:

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Daniels is again involved as he blocks the layup attempt from Hyland, the rebound is taken by Newell who finds Zaccharie Risacher, who in turn finds the streaking Porzingis, who finishes with the dunk to give the Hawks a 17 point lead, leading to a Wolves timeout:

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Let’s discuss Kristaps Porzingis in a little more detail now, as he scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, 10 of which came in the second quarter (some of which we’ve obviously seen already). Porzingis made his return to the court for the first time since December 5th, and while he was a little slow out of the gate missing his first few shots, it didn’t take long for Porzingis to offer a glimpse of what the Hawks have missed in his absence and the offensive dynamics he brings.

Of course, Porzingis brings back his extended range shooting the three-pointer, allowing the Hawks to drop the ball to him deep and Porzingis just rises into a long three-pointer:

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Porzingis is able to make a play for himself on this possession as he takes the ball from the high-post and deceives the defense with the threat of a hand-off to Johnson, instead taking the ball inside on the drive for the dunk:

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This was a well executed play as Kennard gives Porzingis the indication to cut while Kennard occupies Gobert and Hyland, allowing Porzingis to cut, Johnson to deliver an alley-oop, and Porzingis to finish with the layup:

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It was encouraging to see how well Johnson and Porzingis could play off of each other despite the amount of time it has been since the two last played together. Porzingis was asked about playing off of Johnson postgame — as was Johnson about Porzingis — and both commented on how easy it was to play together.

“It’s super easy to play with Jalen,” said Porzingis of Johnson. “He’s a super underrated passer, and the way he can get out in transition; (there’s) not that many players like him. Just playing off of each other, understanding where he likes to get the ball and how he likes to attack, and vice versa. This guy is really good, he’s really, really good. Tonight again, 15-of-22 field goals, that’s efficiency. He’s been hooping.”

“It’s always easy playing with KP,” said Johnson of playing with Porzingis. “He’s a big that can do so much on the court on both sides of the floor. It was great having him back tonight, I know he was excited to be back. It brings a different dynamic to our group that I think everybody is looking forward to having.”

Porzingis finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three in 17 minutes, and felt good postgame about his return.

“I feel good honestly,” opened Porzingis postgame.“Knowing I would have a pretty low minute restriction, I went out there, played, and played free. I tried to add whatever I could for the team.”

Porzingis knew ahead of the game he would be limited in his time, and having had prior experience of coming back from injury on a minutes restriction, he wanted to show aggression on the floor and get to his shots right away.

“Knowing I would have limited minutes, I want to go out there be aggressive and not work my way back slowly,” said Porzingis. “I’ve been in these situations, and I want to step in and be myself, and that’s what I did. First few didn’t fall but you never want to lose confidence, keep shooting, and it started to fall.”

Hawks head coach Quin Snyder praised Porzingis for staying with the team while he was out and cited it as one of the reasons why his return went as smoothly as it did, in addition to praising Porzingis’ defensive movement on pick-and-rolls.

“He’s been really wanting to help, and he stayed connected to the team, which I think is a real credit to him and one of the reasons it was seamless, in a sense,” said Snyder of Porzingis. “What he gives us on the offensive side of the ball, both with his range for spacing — we talked about guys getting into the paint, he impacts that, like O has too stretching the floor. I thought he was really good defensively, jumping out and showing on Edwards and getting back. You could tell he made a real commitment to that. It’s good to have him back and I know he’s excited to be back, and he had a real impact tonight.”

Porzingis’ availability is always difficult to rely on, but when he’s on the court he’s been a huge asset for the Hawks and opens up an avenue that no other player on the team can access with his size and shooting ability. The Hawks can only hope he can remain on the floor as much as possible, but Wednesday afternoon was a feel-good moment for everyone to see Porzingis back and having the impact he had in the first half.

Another player who I thought had a strong impact was Luke Kennard. Kennard scored 15 points on 6-of-12 from the field, 2-of-5 from three, and had five assists on the game in 26 minutes off the bench. Kennard, again, showed that his impact extends beyond just shooting the three-pointer (though, that is always helpful).

Kennard is an intelligent player and is a willing screener, which we looked at briefly in a clip above looking at Porzingis getting to the rim, and Kennard sets another screen for Porzingis here on this play, putting Naz Reid behind the play and forcing McDaniels to have to go with Porzingis, allowing Kennard an open look for three himself:

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Kennard demonstrates his comfort handling the ball and comes off the screen from Daniels and steps in a mid-range jumpshot:

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We’ve looked at some Kennard assists already (to Porzingis and Daniels), and he delivers another assist here in transition to Jalen Johnson for the alley-oop, and the basket that prompts a Minnesota timeout from which they would wave the white flag on the game:

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I didn’t enjoy seeing Kennard get a DNP-CD against the Knicks last week — and I liked the reasoning from Snyder even less when asked about it postgame, citing Trae Young’s reintegration into the rotation — and Kennard has seen extended time on the court in two games where Young has been absent, so I’m a bit skeptical of Kennard’s role when Young returns.

Kennard is someone who should be playing minutes on this team; he can obviously shoot the ball from the perimeter, he can hit jump shots inside the arc, he’s a good passer (and the Hawks always benefit from any bench production when it comes to this facet), and he’s a smart, heads up type of player.

Kennard is certainly hoping for more production from himself heading into to 2026.

“I know these last 30 or so games, I’ve had some good moments, good games, but nowhere near what I can be and what I expect from myself,” said Kennard postgame. “My teammates and coaches have been on me to be aggressive and shoot the ball when I can. For me, it’s just having a different mindset every single day. It’s the new year, and it’s something I’m definitely going into the new year with. Hopefully, for myself, I can do more. I think that’s helped me with the last couple of games, and my teammates building confidence in me more.”

Meanwhile, as for the rest of the game and how it unfolded, the Wolves made a run in the third quarter — aided by some sloppy Atlanta offense — to cut the lead down to 14 points, but the hosts stabilized and pushed the lead back out to 25 points by the end of the third quarter. It didn’t take the Hawks long to run the visitors out of the building, pushing the lead to 29 points before the Wolves waved the white flag with 7:52 remaining. The Hawks took a lead as high as 34 points, and after an immensely difficult December that has seen them struggle desperately for a victory, this game turned into a very comfortable rout.

After postgame discussions after the Miami game between the players — a meeting that Nickeil Alexander-Walker discussed after the New York loss last week — the Hawks have been very encouraged by their performances against the Knicks and the Thunder, despite the final scoreline of those games not going in the Hawks’ favor.

“Absolutely,” said Kennard when asked if there were positives to be taken in the last two games despite the losses“Just the things we’ve continued to talk about. Defensively we have struggled, giving up a lot of points, but we’ve been in some of these games against some really good teams. With the Knicks we were right there, the Thunder we were there the whole game until the very end. It builds some confidence in the group. We have worked on the things and talked about the things we needed to do defensively. Today, from start to finish, we executed very well.”

“They’re meaningful,” added Kennard of player meetings. “I’ve been in the league nine years and been a part of some of those. It depends on what group you have. I think this group, we can talk to each other, be very personal and look each other in the eye. Nothing negative about it, we all accept communication with one another, and it really benefitted us. We did a great job today communicating on the floor, timeouts, we were connected. I think we can definitely build off of that.”

The Hawks have been content from the perspective they’ve been playing in the right way, and that sentiment certainly carried over into this game and had the outcome to support it. Snyder outlined what some of those elements were postgame after the Hawks finally got back in the winning column.

“When we formulaically play in a way that fits us— there’s a lot of ways to play but for our team, I mentioned before, we weren’t rewarded for that,” said Snyder postgame. “You’re playing OKC on the road without a few guys but we played that way. When I say that, it begins with— we defend, defensive rebounding we get a chance to get out play out in the open floor. If we don’t foul, that’s really important because we’re playing against a really good half-court defense. We take care of the ball and move the ball, make the right play and play for each other. If we can do that, we’ll be a solid team, we can be really competitive. But when we don’t the reverse is true. Our margin is not great, and that’s OK, but we just have to know that’s what it is and embrace that. Seeing us do those things is what I liked about the game and I also liked that we did get rewarded for it, so it’s affirming.”

It’s been three games since that disappointing Miami loss, and the Hawks’ level of play in those three games has been significantly better and Snyder was pleased that the Hawks had the result to support that feeling. Whatever was brought up after the Miami game, for now at least, there’s no denying that the Hawks have played significantly better since then. Time will tell if it’s just a splash in the pond, but the urgency and energy was there from start-to-finish on Wednesday in a wire-to-wire victory.

“It was great, it was refreshing, I felt it was a complete game from everybody,” said Jalen Johnson postgame. “The durability from all of us to do it for 48 minutes was huge for us. It’s a step in the right direction, it’s one game and this is something we can continue to build off. Have to focus on New York now.”

“I felt like we played with a bit more juice, that’s how it felt tonight” added Kristaps Porzingis. “Getting up and down, playing with joy. That’s a big part of it already, just creating that energy that we need to win games. Of course, the season is up and down, you have stretches where you’re this, that, and the other. Tonight was a good step out of that moment that we’ve had a bit, so we look forward to building on top of this win.”

One aspect where the Hawks really pressed to their advantage was points in the paint, outscoring the Wolves 64-36 in paint points. Snyder credited the Hawks’ spacing in aiding the Hawks’ ability to score in the paint.

“Us getting in the paint, it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to get all the way to the rim,” said Snyder. “I think we can — and if it’s there that’s what we want — but when it’s not there, having our eyes out. Our spacing is so important for that. It’s not just points in the paint, for us, it’s breaking the paint that can give us an advantage offensively.”

Snyder is referencing putting pressure on the rim to be able to spray the ball out, and he wouldn’t have had the stats immediately available to him postgame when speaking to the media but ironically, in this case, the Hawks’ paint scoring success actually was because the Hawks got all the way to the rim, shooting over 70% at the rim last night to contribute to those 64 paint points:

Jalen Johnson contributed 20 paint points on his own, and now seems like a good time to bring in Johnson into the discussion and his impact on the game last night. Johnson scored a game-high 34 points on 15-of-22 shooting from the field, 3-of-6 from three, 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

Two things the Wolves did often yesterday: miss shots or turn the ball over. Both of these scenarios create opportunities for the Hawks and Johnson. A bad pass from Randle gives the ball to Daniels to push in transition, and when Johnson gets a head of steam heading into the paint there’s little that’s going to prevent a basket once Daniels delivers the ball to Johnson:

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In the open court, Johnson threads the needle to the streaking Daniels, but the Wolves converge well to prevent a basket at the rim. Daniels spins and finds Vit Krejci, who Reid rotates to quickly, allowing a free lane for Johnson to cut into. Krejci finds him, and Johnson drives inside to finish at the rim:

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Other than Rudy Gobert — and even then, it depends on if he’s literally sat in front of the rim on a drive — there’s just no one who could stop Johnson, and it sure wasn’t going to be Julius Randle, who Johnson attacked all game.

Johnson drives into the chest of Randle, knocking him back, and Johnson hangs and hits the runner:

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That play highlights one of Johnson’s best qualities offensively when he’s got it going: he just hangs in the air beautifully.

In the second half, Johnson goes straight at Randle again, gets into his chest, carving the space Johnson needs to hang and hit again:

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Johnson also had the jumpshot falling for him last night, both in the paint as he takes Gobert off the dribble and hits the jumpshot:

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From three-point range where Johnson shot 3-of-6, and he had the 13 to 15-foot jumpshot falling last night. Johnson was in a class of his own, but what impressed Quin Snyder more was Johnson’s defensive effort, which Snyder has called to make more of a habit.

“His unselfishness, his decision-making, his ball-handling in transition, there’s a lot of things that he does offensively but what he did defensively tonight is as significant, or more, than what he’s given us offensively,” said Snyder of Johnson. “I don’t take it for granted, offensively, but I think his (defensive) focus was as good as it’s been. Particularly with a matchup in Randle that is not an easy matchup. All those details, he’s embracing them. The more important that he continues to make those things, the more they can become his habits.”

There was something else that looked clear to me when watching Johnson play yesterday, and having watched Johnson play both with Young and when he was sidelined previously. Johnson and Young obviously have to share the floor together, and the process of those two bringing out the best in each other is still an ongoing, learning process.

Young has previously discussed how he had to try fit into what the Hawks discovered when he was sidelined with injury and has talked about how he needs to find Johnson in his spots. Johnson, in turn, has mentioned during Young’s absence how the Hawks are looking forward to having him back, and was pleased to have him back on the court.

Both players have stretches where one is on the court, and one is on the bench, allowing them to not have to defer too much to each other and take a more central focus offensively with the other off the floor. I can’t recall Johnson playing with the energy (and I don’t mean effort) he played with last night when Young has been on the floor in this stretch since Young’s return from injury.

It just looked as though Johnson played with a freedom of knowing he would be able to get any shot he wanted and run the team as he wanted to. It could just be my imagination, so take this with a pinch of salt, but that’s what it felt like watching the game last night: Johnson just seemed as though he had a different energy on the court last night. Whether that was down to the freedom he had without Young, or just his confidence in a matchup where he excelled, I don’t know where the truth lies for certain.

While we’re on the subject, and it’s a good point in even relation to my own thoughts above re: Johnson and Young, correlation does not necessarily equal causation: just because Young was out did not automatically equate to the Hawks winning this game. Prior to this blowout, when you look at the on/off numbers for Young he’s played since his return, the Hawks have had their worst net rating when Young has been off the floor. In saying that, Young’s absence certainly helps the defense (and the numbers would support that).

At the same time, Minnesota’s supporting cast was so poor offensively yesterday that even with Young’s likely defense the Hawks would have still comfortably won this game; Edwards and Randle were the only players to score in double-digits outside of garbage time. Whether the Hawks are better with/without Young is its own discussion — and a difficult one — but in the context of last night, correlation may not equal causation. And for the sake of transparency, I’d point that statement at my own discussion above with regards Johnson’s game — maybe it’s because Young was out, maybe it wasn’t.

Anyways, back to this game. Snyder praised Jalen Johnson’s defense, and he praised the Hawks’ defense as a whole. The Hawks held the Wolves to just 39% through three quarters and, had this game unfolded without the nearly eight minutes of garbage time, the Wolves would not have cracked 100 points — always the hallmark of a good night defensively. Snyder believed that the Hawks’ transition defense was instrumental to their success.

“It started from an urgency to get back in transition,” said Snyder of the defense. “Edwards is so good attacking in space, no one guy can guard him. It’s been a big point of emphasis just us just shifting and being less man-conscious in the half-court and isolation situations. We didn’t do that a couple of times in post-ups but the same idea where we’ve got to defend with all five guys, it’s not any one guy. That said, there’s always a moment where somebody needs to guard the ball because we can’t over-help. We were more disciplined both in our shifts to give help and then drifting out to shooters. We’ve just got to keep doing it so it can become who we are, not as opposed as to what we did on a given night.”

There was one play where this was exemplified in the second quarter. While it ends in a foul after the Okongwu slap on the arm (which, you can tell, he instantly regretted), the way in which the Hawks were moving, switching, rotating on this defensive possession spoke to a commitment to defense and the shifting Snyder discussed:

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As Snyder alluded to, and herein lies the challenge for the Hawks: how do they sustain this type of defensive execution and energy on a consistent basis that this is not just a one-game occurrence? Kristaps Porzingis believes that the Hawks’ shot selection on the offensive end can contribute to setting their defense getting back.

“That’s what we strive for, because offensively we will score and we are a pretty efficient scoring team,” said Porzingis of sustaining defense. “It’s probably a mix of many things, but one thing that could help us is getting shots that we want, not forcing too much stuff. When you get shots you want you’re more prepared to get back and more prepared to set your defense. We have to keep gaining experience as a team, that’s going to help us.”

Porzingis was asked quite a pointed question that essentially asking why the Hawks weren’t able to perform what the coaches wanted defensively of them, and Porzingis spoke to the psychological element of NBA defense from a player’s perspective.

“Some of it is effort — you know how players are, we can get in our own head a bit like, ‘Ah, this didn’t go my way’, and you lose half a second,” said Porzingis of why the Hawks haven’t been able to execute defensively. “It’s the NBA, someone makes a shot, and it can be like an avalanche, and you can’t get yourself set on defense. We have a slump like that. It’s not that we don’t want to play defense or play this kind of basketball, but it happens like that. Being more collected offensively, and taking the right shots offensively, doing the right thing offensively … it translates to the defense. We got stops, we got running, we took the shots we want, and we were able to get back, set our defense and play pretty good defensive.”

The Hawks’ defense was good, make no mistake about it, but it would be remiss not to discuss how poor the Wolves were. Settled jump shots, turnovers, and an overall lack of offensive help for Anthony Edwards who scored an efficient 30 points (10-of-18 shooting). They looked flat from the beginning.

“We looked slow everywhere,” said Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch. “…They were beating us to every ball, beating us all over the floor. All credit to them. They’re on a tough losing streak and they took it to us.”

The Hawks were excellent on the offensive glass; they hustled, fought for rebounds and loose ball all night and that was encouraging to see. The Hawks secured 16 offensive rebounds, contributing to 17 second chance points. 38 assists on the night (the Hawks’ third-highest of the season), 16 made threes, and just eight turnovers all put a ribbon on what was the best way for the Hawks to end 2025 and start the new year off of that losing streak.

“Nobody wants to lose that many games in a row,” said Johnson of ending the streak. “To be able to close out on a day like this, New Year’s Eve, going into the new year with a fresh start, a dub, that’s huge for everybody.”

“It’s like that sometimes,” added Porzingis of the losing streak, having asked how the losing streak was. “We probably lost a couple that we should have won. There’s streaks in a season like that. No need to overreact, and I think we didn’t. The coaching staff did a good job of focusing on the daily work and not focusing on that result. Tonight was a good reward for us (after) going through a little slump as a team, good bounce-back game for us.”

“It’s been tough, it’s not been easy, but we have a really close group which is the biggest thing,” said Luke Kennard. “I think today was one of our best talking games, we communicated very well and that’s something we can build off of. To win by a bigger margin builds confidence in a group, and some things that we have worked on and talked about we did a good job of executing. Obviously we can be better and hopefully we can take it on the road and see what we can do.”

As well executed and encouraging as this win and performance were for the Hawks, there’s still a lot of work to do and tough games coming up. The Hawks (16-19) head to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks (23-10) on Friday night. The Knicks return to New York after dropping a close game in San Antonio, and Friday’s contest is the first night of a back-to-back for both teams.

Until next time, and Happy New Year!

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/anal...rwolves-final-quotes-analysis-video-breakdown

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

T’Wolves at Hawks: start time, TV, streaming, radio, game thread

Maybe the Atlanta Hawks (15-19) catch the Minnesota Timberwolves (21-13) napping on this early New Year’s Eve tipoff as they try to break a seven-game losing streak.

Please join in the comments below as you follow along.

Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen​

Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA

Start Time: 3:00 PM EDT

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)

Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)

Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/atla...wks-start-time-tv-streaming-radio-game-thread

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks nix Knicks comeback effort for second straight win, 111-99

The return of Kristaps Porzingis two days ago helped the Hawks break a long losing streak in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

For tonight, the Hawks had the same team available as Trae Young sat with a thigh contusion. The Knicks had some major injury struggles as well, down Karl Anthony-Towns, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, and others, so Friday evening would be an opening for the Hawks to put together a winning streak.

Onyeka Okongwu powered the Hawks early on with a flurry of deep trailing threes:

Triple O pic.twitter.com/c9XwNSZ9d1

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 3, 2026

BIG O THREE FOR THREE FROM DEEP pic.twitter.com/nHCjGRtqgQ

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 3, 2026

The Hawks quickly took a 19-16 lead, but Jalen Brunson and the Knicks fought back after the first timeout.

Onyeka Okongwu and Kevin McCullar collided chasing a loose ball, and both players had to eventually leave the court for attention to close bleeding wounds (both later returned). But the Hawks remained largely effective on offense, and they managed a 33-30 after one quarter.

The Hawks opened up a couple of double-digit leads during the second quarter, but they could never quite pull away. It helped that the Knicks were shooting poorly from three, but Atlanta played some solid defense to force transition buckets here and there to stay in command.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, in particular, created opportunities to score with his activity. Here, he made a nice back cut, and Jalen Johnson found him for two:

JJ vision pic.twitter.com/ApVdK5JfOO

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 3, 2026

At halftime, the Hawks led 60-47. Alexander-Walker was the highest scorer for either team with 15 first half points.

In the second half, the Hawks quickly took control with a big run to take the lead to 71-51. After that, it was all about maintaining momentum and continuing to work for the 50/50 balls.

And that they did. Atlanta frustrated the Knicks in the third quarter, and they padded their lead even more. The Hawks absolutely got after it, holding New York to just 40 points combined in the second and third quarters, and they turned those stops into scores to break the game wide open.

Fellas are LOCKED IN pic.twitter.com/M0C9Rhsbzk

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 3, 2026

After three, the good guys were in control 94-70.

Naturally, an 11-0 run gave the Knicks an immediate injection of energy. The game got really tight at 94-81, but Luke Kennard hit a pair of back-to-back triples to calm the nerves:

Luke Kennard CLUTCH 3s pic.twitter.com/sfipjpW6tW

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 3, 2026

Atlanta still needed to see out the rest of this game, as the Knicks clearly wouldn’t roll over despite being undermanned.

It was a slog, but slowly, the Hawks got the game over the line, 111-99.

Jalen Johnson recorded yet another triple-double with 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Okongwu added 23 points and nine rebounds, and Alexander-Walker also added 23 on the board.

The Hawks take this two-game winning streak up to Canada for two games against the Raptors beginning tomorrow.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/reca...second-straight-win-final-score-jalen-johnson

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks at Knicks: start time, TV, streaming, radio, game thread

The Atlanta Hawks (16-19) look to conquer MSG once again against the New York Knicks (23-10).

Please join in the comments below as you follow along.

Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen​

Location: Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York, NY

Start Time: 7:30 PM EDT

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)

Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)

Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/atla...ork-start-time-tv-streaming-radio-game-thread

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks’ strong start fades in fourth quarter loss to Raptors

The Atlanta Hawks put together one of their most competitive road efforts of the season. Still, they couldn’t sustain enough defensive stops or rebounding edge in a 134–117 loss to the Toronto Raptors Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Atlanta overcame early sluggishness with a balanced offensive attack and hot perimeter shooting, yet Toronto’s relentless scoring and superior depth powered the Raptors ahead down the stretch.

The loss drops the Hawks to 17–20 on the season, while the Raptors improved to 21–15.

Atlanta looked outmatched early as Toronto raced to a double-digit lead in the first half, but the Hawks clawed back behind efficient shooting. Atlanta shot a robust 48% from the field and an impressive 46% from three-point range, keeping the contest within reach — even holding a slim lead at various points in the second quarter.

However, the Raptors turned up the pressure after halftime, shooting 55% from the field overall and out-rebounding Atlanta 44–34, giving them extra possessions that eventually tilted the game. Toronto scored 60 points in the paint.

After trading baskets through three quarters, Toronto made a decisive surge early in the fourth. A string of Raptors’ buckets, sparked by transition scoring and weak-side help defense, opened up the largest lead of the night, forcing Atlanta into quick-tempo possessions that didn’t yield consistent results.

Late in the game, Atlanta’s offense remained potent, but the Raptors’ commanding lead negated any realistic comeback bid. The Hawks only scored 11 points in the last quarter after getting the Raptors’ lead down to one going into the quarter.

Despite the loss, several Hawks players delivered standout nights, such as Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who paced Atlanta with 31 points, showcasing efficient scoring from both the midrange and beyond the arc.

Jalen Johnson continued his season of growth, finishing with 29 points and seven boards, attacking the basket and creating opportunities in transition. Dyson Daniels orchestrated the Atlanta offense, tallying 12 assists and consistently finding open shooters when the Hawks needed offense.

Vit Krejci was automatic from distance, hitting all his triples and ending with 11 points on perfect three-point shooting. Atlanta’s offense looked sharp in stretches, particularly from beyond the arc, but defensive breakdowns and second-chance points prevented sustained momentum.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/reca...cap-final-news-fourth-quarter-loss-to-raptors

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks at Raptors: start time, TV, streaming, radio, game thread

The Atlanta Hawks (17-19) cross the border North for the first and only time this season to play the Toronto Raptors (20-15).

Please join in the comments below as you follow along.

Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen​

Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON, Canada

Start Time: 7:30 PM EDT

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)

Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)

Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/atla...ors-start-time-tv-streaming-radio-game-thread

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks lose plot late in defeat in Toronto

The Atlanta Hawks suffered a disheartening defeat to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night, losing 134-117 in a game that was more competitive than the final scoreline might suggest. The Hawks trailed by just one point heading into the fourth quarter, but managed just 11 points in the final frame and were outscored by 16 in the period. Atlanta’s 11 fourth quarter points were the fewest they’ve scored in any quarter this season.

The Hawks are winless against the Raptors this season (0-3), and after last night’s defeat, their losing streak against Toronto stands at five games dating back to last season.

Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett led the way for Toronto, pouring in 29 points apiece. Scottie Barnes added 20 points and seven rebounds. Sandro Mamukelashvili turned in an all-around performance, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

For Atlanta, Jalen Johnson continued to make his case for an All-Star bid, going for 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a Toronto native, led all scorers with 31 points. Dyson Daniels had a nice night, finishing with 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go along with 12 assists, two steals and two blocks.

The Hawks, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, were without Kristaps Porzingis (reconditioning) and Luke Kennard (back soreness), in addition to Trae Young, who missed his third consecutive game with a right quad contusion. Jakob Poeltl (lower back strain) was the only player sidelined for the Raptors.

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How It Happened​

A sluggish start from Toronto saw the Hawks lead by as many as six in the early going, though turnovers combined with shaky transition defense and mediocre outside shooting gave the Raptors a 35-29 lead after 12 minutes. Toronto scored 10 points off of Atlanta’s five first quarter turnovers, while committing just one themselves – a massive swing in the opening frame. Atlanta shot just 3-for-11 from deep in the first quarter.

The game heated up in the second quarter, with both teams topping the 40-point mark in the period. Dyson Daniels was instrumental for Atlanta during this stretch, scoring 12 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting (2-for-2 at the free-throw stripe) and dishing out 4 assists.

While the Hawks were clicking offensively, they had a really hard time keeping Toronto out of the paint on the other end of the floor, conceding 26 paint points to the Raptors (on 13-for-16 shooting) in the second quarter. By halftime, Atlanta trailed 77-70.

Atlanta’s offense continued to roll in the third quarter, with their outside shooting and ball security playing a pivotal role in their offensive success. The Hawks posted a 59% three-point attempt rate in the period, and shot 8-for-16 from the perimeter, with five different players cashing in from beyond the arc. They turned the ball over just once.

Additionally, contrary to how the rest of the game went, Atlanta dominated the glass in the third quarter, grabbing five offensive rebounds while keeping Toronto off the glass entirely on the other end. Atlanta outscored the Raptors 11-0 in second-chance points in the third, and cut the deficit to 107-106 heading into the final frame.

The beginning of the fourth quarter was where the game was lost for Atlanta. The Hawks committed a stunning seven turnovers in the first five minutes of the period while failing to score a single point, shooting 0-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-2 at the line over the course of a 16-0 Raptors run to blow the game wide open. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored Atlanta’s first points of the quarter with 6:49 remaining to cut the deficit to 14.

Speaking on Toronto’s fourth quarter run after the game, Quin Snyder said:

“First and foremost, they ran off our mistakes, turnovers. We had a couple of shots that didn’t fall, but it’s hard to defend against those turnovers. I thought we did a pretty good job during the game reacting to some of the physicality and the pressure. We settled in a little bit from the beginning of the game. But that stretch in a game like that, it’s tough to overcome.”

“As I’ve said, our offense really impacts [our defense] – like for all teams – but in our case, when they’re scoring, it makes it more difficult. And it’s hard to keep them from scoring when you’re turning the ball over, it just cascades.”

To their credit, the Hawks didn’t stop competing until the final buzzer sounded, however, playing on the second night of a back-to-back they just looked fatigued and out of sync in the final period, shooting a miserable 4-for-19 from the field and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line en route to their lowest scoring quarter of the season (11 points). They finished the game on the wrong side of a 134-117 defeat.

It is worth noting that this was the second night of a back-to-back for Atlanta, and the Hawks were without three of their top offensive weapons in Trae Young, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard, which certainly didn’t make life easier for them late against a physical Raptors side. Nonetheless, it was still an ugly way to lose a game that the Hawks were competitive in through three quarters.

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Turnovers were the killer tonight for Atlanta. They averaged 11.5 turnovers per game in their last two games against New York and Minnesota (both wins), before committing 16 miscues in last night’s defeat*.

While the final turnover margin doesn’t look all that bad, five out of Toronto’s 14 turnovers occurred during the final seven minutes of the game when the game was essentially out of reach. The Hawks are 2-12 this season when their opponents outscore them in points off of turnovers.

*Jalen Johnson (four turnovers) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (six turnovers) combined for 10 out of Atlanta’s 16 turnovers in the game.

Another area where Toronto had a significant advantage last night was in points from the mid-range. Per cleaningtheglass, the Raptors shot 18-for-31 (58.1%) on ‘mid-range’ shots* while Atlanta went just 10-for-28 (35.7%). Brandon Ingram — a renowned master of the mid-range — and Scottie Barnes did most of the damage from this area for Toronto.

*Defined as field goal attempts taken between 4-feet away from the basket and the three-point line.

While Atlanta had a higher three-point attempt rate and hit five more threes than Toronto, the Raptors mid-range proficiency and the edge they gained at the free-throw line (+8) proved to make the difference on the scoreboard.

While there were not a lot of positives for Atlanta last night, Dyson Daniels deserves a shoutout for his effort on both ends of the floor. Despite his outside shot abandoning him this season, Daniels has still proven to be an impactful offensive player thanks to his off-ball movement as well as his willingness to push the pace and generate early shot clock paint touches.

Early in the second quarter, Daniels gets into the lane off the Raptors turnover and finds Okongwu for an easy two.

Later on in the period, Okongwu returns the favor, finding Daniels for a pretty backdoor slam.

A few plays later, Daniels shows off the off-ball prowess once again, catching RJ Barrett napping before finishing at the rim with force.

Daniels finished the evening with 20 points, 12 assists and just one (!) turnover. He also grabbed five boards and added four ‘stocks’ to round out his performance.

Credit to Daniels for his play last night.

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The Hawks will have a chance avenge themselves in their next outing, taking on this very same Raptors team in Atlanta on Monday night. Atlanta will hope to get Young, Porzingis and Kennard back in the lineup for that one as they look to avoid a regular-season series sweep against Toronto.

Tipoff is at 7:30 PM EST on FanDuel Sports Network.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/anal...analysis-breakdown-video-quotes-jalen-johnson

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks still can’t get over Raptors hump, lose 118-100

The Atlanta Hawks were in Toronto on Monday evening to face the Raptors. It has been a rough time for the Hawks whenever they’ve come in contact with the Raptors this season, and it continued on Saturday when they took their third loss of the season with them.

This time around, the Hawks had Luke Kennard and Kristaps Porzingis at their disposal after they missed the last game. Trae Young was still out with a right quad contusion, and things got interesting with him hours before the game, with reports coming out that he and his team were working with the franchise on a trade.

Nonetheless, there was a game that needed to played.

Zaccharie Risacher set up Dyson Daniels to get the Hawks on the board.

Zacch touches the paint and sets up Dyson for a floater pic.twitter.com/LwuZfreuHZ

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

Outside of that, shots were hard to come by for the Hawks, and they found themselves in a hole early. Onyeka Okongwu benefited from the Hawks getting on the break and finished this dunk early in the quarter.

Pushing it ahead for an OO slam ️ pic.twitter.com/ZpeRBUbjt0

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

The Raptors have made it hard for the Hawks offensively every time they face them, and it continued in this game as well. The Hawks found themselves as down as 15 points in the first, but they had some life down the stretch after knocking down a few shots.

Kristaps Porzingis was a part of that run, getting a three-pointer and knocking down a pair of free throws.

KP recovers to knock down a three ball pic.twitter.com/vXcV5IJ44T

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

Going into the second quarter, the Hawks found themselves down only five points. Porzingis continued his strong play early in the quarter in hopes of cutting down the Hawks’ deficit.

KP doing it on both ends of the floor pic.twitter.com/Z6qPEdos6y

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

The Hawks couldn’t get out of their own way at times, and by that, it came with fouls. The Raptors were already in the bonus with nine minutes remaining in the second, and Zaccharie Risacher picked up his fourth foul. Despite the fouls, the Hawks were able to continue to cut down their deficit.

Keil in the corner cuts it to 3 pic.twitter.com/7XqWXTUWHl

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

Just when the Hawks thought they had some momentum, the Raptors came back and extended their lead back to double digits. Jalen Johnson did all he could to keep the Hawks in it.

Good pass by Vit better finish by Jalen pic.twitter.com/QVsmYhsZTV

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

The Hawks couldn’t get their deficit out of double digits down the stretch of the second, and they went into halftime trailing 61-49.

It was Risacher’s show in the third quarter, and even though he picked up his fifth foul, he made sure to put his stamp on the game offensively as much as he could.

Zaccharie opens the 3rd with a pair of buckets pic.twitter.com/7L1aMFxmbH

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

Risacher did not stop attacking, and he did what he could to cut the Hawks’ deficit.

Zacch is 4-5 with 9 PTS in the last 6 minutes pic.twitter.com/4FbRKs9pzL

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

No matter how much Risacher did, the Raptors still found a way to keep their lead, and the Hawks had to keep scrapping as much as they could. Luke Kennard used the three-ball to keep the Hawks alive.

Outside inside back outside for a Luke triple pic.twitter.com/3WoAHrqqFQ

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

Going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed 86-73. The Hawks scrapped early in the fourth, and a few shots and stops helped them cut their deficit down to as much as six points. Daniels got it started for the Hawks and scored four straight points, all in the paint.

Nice little step through by Dyson in transition pic.twitter.com/qFNcV5e9zA

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

Kennard then followed it up with a three-pointer.

Luke connects from deep again

7-0 run to start the 4th pic.twitter.com/5TjWYZniep

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

The Hawks once again had momentum brewing, but couldn’t sustain it as the Raptors continued to extend their lead whenever they had a chance. It was the Risacher show again in the second half, and most importantly midway through the fourth where they needed it the most.

Another steal and another Zacch 3-ball pic.twitter.com/jsw1wXGXeL

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2026

Unfortunately, the hot streak didn’t last for long after the Risacher as he fouled out. From there, the Hawks lost some of their offensive juice and couldn’t get back into the game. In the end, the Raptors proved to be too much to handle for the fourth time this season.

Okongwu finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, Johnson finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Risacher finished with 16 points.

The Hawks will be back in action on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/recaps/67615/hawks-still-cant-get-over-raptors-hump-lose-118-100

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks offense bogs down as Toronto completes season-series sweep

The Atlanta Hawks concluded a three-game road-trip with a fourth consecutive loss this season against the Toronto Raptors on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, 118-100.

Onyeka Okongwu led the Hawks with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Zaccharie Risacher added 16 points. For the Raptors, Brandon Ingram led with 19 points, and Scottie Barnes added 18 points.

This game, for the most part, takes a backseat in the context of the larger story emerging from Atlanta regarding Trae Young’s future in Atlanta seemingly coming to an imminent end.

While conversation before and after the game will understandably revolve around this discussion, the Hawks played a game in between against the Raptors — a team which the Hawks have already faced three times already, resulting in three defeats, including one as recently as Saturday.

The Raptors are an interesting matchup for the Hawks, particularly size-wise. The Raptors don’t play a conventional center, starting Collin Murray-Boyles at center alongside a forward line of Ingram and Barnes — both standing at 6-8.

The matchup gives the Hawks a chance to be aggressive themselves on the glass that their opponents typically play with when facing Atlanta. But, as it turned out, the matchup is just a nightmare one for the Hawks that they just cannot contain offensively and struggled to break down defensively.

The Raptors began on the front foot, running out to a 15-4 lead through a combination of easily picking the Atlanta defense — and some excellent early play from Murray-Boyles in the first quarter — but really limiting the Hawks offensively in the opening stretch. We’ll have a look at that opening stretch — not that it was the pivotal moment of this game but I thought it was, somewhat, emblematic of this game going forward.

The Hawks had issues breaking the Raptors defense; Toronto can switch a lot of ball screens and can contain penetration, and this contributes to the Hawks not being able to break down the defense.

You can see this in action on this play, where the Raptors switch and contain the drive from Risacher. RJ Barret gets greedy, and that’s what ultimately leads to Dyson Daniels getting free for a floater off the hand-off from Risacher:

View Link

While the Hawks score this basket, the means of which they did so wouldn’t be consistent and they would struggle often to break the Raptors down.

A similar story a few possessions later — the Daniels hand-off to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Alexander-Walker’s penetration attempt off the Okongwu screen doesn’t yield an avenue to the rim. Okongwu then receives the ball, and he can’t make an inroads to the rim, so he has to get rid of the ball.

Risacher can’t get through the paint, and he has to pass out of his shot attempt as he gets off his feet. Risacher relocates after the pass to Okongwu, gets it back and gets a good look at a three which is missed:

View Link

Later in this stretch, Jalen Johnson is unable to get by Barnes — with help from Ingram looming on any drive — and Johnson settles for a jumpshot instead:

View Link

Defensively, the Raptors moved the ball — and their personnel — well to open up the Hawks’ defense.

On the drive, Barret gets the better of Daniels and gets into an advantageous position going to the rim, forcing the attention of Okongwu to shift, allowing Murray-Boyles a dump off at the rim:

View Link

On the slip screen from Barnes, Immanuel Quickley is able to get in front of Okongwu on the switch. The Hawks do not step up to meet him, but Quickley doesn’t take advantage and Risacher in place on the pass to Barnes. However, Johnson gets drawn to the action and leaves Murray-Boyles enough room to hit the three off the find from Barnes:

View Link

The Raptors break the Hawks down again as they execute a perfect slip pick-and-roll, with Murray-Boyles slipping the screen, Barret splitting the Hawks defense with the bounce-pass, and the extra pass from Murray-Boyles to find the cutting Barnes, who has a free dunk after Okongwu has to rotate to Murray-Boyles:

View Link

The Hawks trailed by as many as 15 points in the first quarter but whittled this down to five points by the end of the first quarter after a late Luke Kennard three-pointer. The Hawks kept pace with Toronto for a part of the second quarter, until the Raptors gradually eked their lead back to 16 points before taking a 14 point lead to halftime.

The third quarter saw a consistent pattern where the Raptors maintained their double-digit lead for much of the quarter, with the lead dipping below double figures only briefly.

After struggling with foul trouble in the first half, Risacher picked up his fifth foul within two minutes of the third quarter beginning. Hawks head coach Quin Snyder kept Risacher in the game, and he provided the Hawks a boost offensively, scoring nine much needed points in the quarter.

The fourth quarter saw the Hawks refuse to go away, cutting the lead down to six points before the Raptors pushed it back out to 14 point — it looked like safe lead in the fourth having held off the Atlanta push and stabilize the lead.

The Hawks were not finished yet, cutting the lead to seven points before squandering offensive possessions as the Raptors hit back-to-back threes to push the lead back to 14 with two minutes to go. The Hawks struggled to break the Raptors down defensively, and costly turnovers did not help their cause.

Alas, the game was now gone at this point, and the Hawks did not call for a timeout, instead choosing to let the clock run out with the starters on the floor as the game got away from the Hawks, falling to a 118-100 defeat and a game-high lead for the Raptors to finish the game.

Following the game, Quin Snyder was disappointed with the Hawks’ aggression and defense to begin the game, particularly with the context of the Hawks’ recent game with the Raptors and believed the Hawks should have expected Toronto’s aggressiveness. Snyder was not pleased with his side’s ball movement, alluding to it as one of the elements the Hawks have to excel at in order to win games.

“I think the biggest thing was our aggression and physicality on defense,” said Snyder. “Digging in at the beginning of the game, we shouldn’t be surprised — we played them two days ago — with how aggressive they are on both ends. We got down and that kind of rallied us and our level raised. It’s difficult when you’re playing from behind for long stretches and we had a couple of times where we could cut it to six, late. I think the final score isn’t representative of what we did in the second half. That said, the score is representative of how they played and how we played. We need to be more shifted, be more connected. We need to keep moving the ball; a lot of times I felt there were open people, and we have to find them. There’s certain things that we have to do in order to have success and we weren’t doing those things at the beginning of the game.”

While the Hawks racked up 28 assists, it doesn’t tell the full picture of the ball movement. The Hawks, at times, did not play with the extra pass and players often settled for jumpshots when they couldn’t break down the defense — Jalen Johnson in particular was guilty of this, and was scoreless in the second half on 0-of-5 shooting (finishing with just 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 from three).

Johnson was, by no means, the only player to struggle shooting the ball last night. Daniels shot 4-of-13 from the field, scoring 11 points, and the Raptors played him as most teams should: stand off him from three and when he drives the ball, go for the poke-away/jam him up on drives.

Daniels did well getting to the rim, but his finesse around the basket is still in need of improvement. The same could be said about the Hawks last night as a team, who shot just under 45% at the rim — a tough percentage to shoot at the rim when they did get their chances in behind the Raptors’ perimeter defense:

The Hawks scored just 44 points in the paint, and were blown out of the water by the Raptors in this regard — 64-44 in paint points. Alexander-Walker struggled at the rim (1-of-5), and struggled to shoot in this game, scoring 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 from three. Alexander-Walker was well contested as he got to his spots on jumpers, and the finishing at the rim was obviously difficult.

Elsewhere, Kristaps Porzingis struggled shooting the ball, shooting 2-of-12 from the field, but Snyder was pleased with the quality of shots that Porzingis took, even if they missed.

“Having KP back, the ball didn’t go in for him but I thought he took good shots and had an impact on the game,” said Snyder. “He’s an important player for us as well.”

Going back to the paint points/shooting at the rim, perhaps the most damning stat for the Hawks was that the Raptors shot 82% at the rim:

It’s not as though the Raptors excelled everywhere else — it’s average or far below average (aside from the corner three) but when you succeed this much at the rim, it’s very difficult to win games. Had the Raptors even hit close to league average for threes, this would have closer to a 30 point blowout. The Raptors’ drives, and good ball movement, just opened up the lane for the hosts, and the Hawks had little chance to contest at the rim if Okongwu was taken away from the play.

Okongwu had a solid game overall, scoring 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 from three, 12 rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Luke Kennard also had a solid game off the bench, scoring 10 points and shooting 3-of-4 from three.

“Luke’s been playing well, and we saw him play well again,” said Snyder of Kennard.

Over his last five games, Kennard has been averaging 10 points a game and 55% shooting from three on 3.6 attempts per game. The momentum for Kennard has been on a positive trend lately, and with an average of three assists per game in this stretch it’s coincided with less Keaton Wallace recently.

While the passing is a bonus from Kennard — and something the Hawks need off the bench — the most encouraging number is the three-point percentage, and that continued last night even if the Hawks did not win the game.

Zaccharie Risacher had an odd game. He picked up two fouls within the first minute-and-a-half of the game, picked up his third foul just as the second quarter began, and then picked up a fourth foul after his entry pass to Porzingis was picked off by Gradey Dick, and Risacher fouled him at the rim for the ‘and-1’ in transition.

A fifth foul to begin the third quarter could have easily negatively affected Risacher on what was looking like an extremely frustrating night. Instead, Risacher’s game ignited, scoring nine points in the third and finishing with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting — all 16 points coming in the second half.

“That’s the right word,” said Snyder when asked about Risacher’s ‘aggressiveness’ in response to his fifth foul. “You can be aggressive in a lot of ways. He threw himself into the game on the defensive end and got rewarded for it.”

To say he was ‘rewarded’ for his aggressiveness might be the wrong takeaway given how poor Risacher was at times in the first half but it was an encouraging response from Risacher in a very frustrating scenario for him in this game.

Frustration is probably the word for the Hawks last night, shooting a frustrating 39% from the field and a disappointing fourth loss to the Raptors this season — the Raptors have just had the Hawks’ number this season. In the four game series, the Raptors have won by an average of 16 points, and their point differential across these four games is +67 points — it’s not even been close.

The game itself, however, felt largely inconsequential compared to what’s going on around the Hawks at the moment. The Trae Young era is seemingly headed for an end, and until he’s traded that cloud will hang over the Hawks and any games they play until that outcome is reached.

To what degree, if any, this whole situation — now it’s become a lot more public — impacts their play on the court remains to be seen. For now, the Hawks will just be happy to be finished with the Raptors for this season.

The Hawks (17-21) head back to Atlanta to take on the New Orleans Pelicans (8-29) at State Farm Arena.

Until next time!

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/anal...rie-risacher-trae-young-quotes-video-anaylsis

 

[Zedster]

Tough stretch for the Hawks against Toronto. Four losses to the same team in one season is rough, especially when you consider how competitive some of those games actually were through three quarters.

The Saturday game really stings - being down just one going into the fourth and then only managing 11 points is brutal. Seven turnovers in the first five minutes of that final period basically handed the game away. That's the kind of collapse that's hard to shake off mentally, especially on the second night of a back-to-back.

Jalen Johnson continues to look like a legit All-Star candidate though. Putting up 30/9/7 in that Saturday loss and then following up with 13/14 on Monday shows he can produce even when the team is struggling. His shooting efficiency took a hit in that second game, but the rebounding effort was there.

Dyson Daniels has been interesting to watch. The 20/12 with only one turnover on Saturday was impressive, even if his outside shot still isn't falling consistently. His ability to get into the paint and create for others keeps him valuable offensively despite the shooting woes.

Risacher's response to that foul trouble in Monday's game was encouraging. Five fouls early in the third quarter and he still managed to be aggressive and score all 16 of his points in the second half. That's good mental toughness from a young player.

The elephant in the room is obviously the Trae Young situation now. Hard to know how much that uncertainty is affecting the locker room, but it'll be interesting to see how the team responds against New Orleans.

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks at Raptors: game thread/Trae Young trade discussion

I’m using this game thread as a discussion post for both the game tonight and the breaking news of the day. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks are working on a trade resolution that will see Young moved elsewhere:

The Hawks and Young's agents have maintained positive dialogue on his future ever since the franchise elected not to offer a contract extension last summer ahead of his 2026 player option. Now the sides are working together on a trade out of Atlanta. https://t.co/IWehy7ZIJN

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 5, 2026

The Atlanta Hawks (17-20) also play the Toronto Raptors (22-15) again.

Please join in the comments below as you follow along.

Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen​

Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON, Canada

Start Time: 7:30 PM EDT

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)

Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)

Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/atla...tart-time-trae-young-trade-rumors-game-thread

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Trae Young deals I’d do — and ones I wouldn’t

We’re all still going through the stages of grief over the Trae Young news, I know. But it’s time to turn the page.

To catch up, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on the latest news that the Hawks and Young’s camp are working together to seek a trade for him:

Young’s reps and Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh have begun positive and collaborative talks over the past week on finding a resolution, sources said.

The Hawks and Young’s agents have maintained dialogue over his future over the past several months — since the franchise elected not to offer a contract extension to the 27-year-old guard.

We also need to come to grips with the fact that this team is no good. Overall, they’re 18th in net rating (-1.4), but since November 25, they’re 22nd (112.9) in offensive rating, 24th in defensive rating (117.8), and 27th in net rating (-4.9). Nasty.

There is still time to turn things around with the 44 games that remain, but I don’t see much of a path after the 82 games are played even if they find a way to squeak into the playoffs via the Play-In Tournament — something they’re not even guaranteed to reach.

The Bulls, Bucks, and even Hornets are all in the mix for ninth and tenth places in the Eastern Conference, a far cry from the projected fourth place finish preseason for the Hawks. This season is, frustratingly, being flushed down the toilet.

That preamble leads into the fact that Trae Young will also be off the roster by the February 5 trade deadline it seems, and a Young-like talent won’t be coming the other direction. The trade will likely make the team farther from competitiveness in the short term, although maybe they could find some nice fit pieces on the fringes of a deal or deals.

The Hawks have to focus on righting the ship in 2026-27 and prepping for a better future over trying to salvage the wreckage that is their 2025-26 season.

So now, what can the Hawks get for Young in return? Well, lower your expectations — it’s not likely to be much.

Right or wrong, Young is seen as a physically declining, easy target on defense whose offensive prowess only just makes up for the effect on a team’s defense. Additionally, he makes right at $46 million for this season with a roughly $49 million option that teams believe he will pick up this offseason.

The primary motivation for why this situation has escalated so quickly? Atlanta seems to want to get out ahead of that option decision and move him now for a cleaner cap sheet this offseason.

So, what destinations make the most sense for him? Well, frankly, anyone who will take him.

Thus far, the Washington Wizards have shown the most interest based on reports from Jake L. Fischer and Marc Stein from the Stein Line substack blog. This from Monday:

The Washington Wizards have emerged as a legitimate trade destination for Atlanta’s Trae Young, The Stein Line has learned.

The teams, according to league sources, are actively discussing a trade construction centered around CJ McCollum’s expiring contract.

“There have definitely been conversations today,” said one source briefed on the talks.

More salary would have to be added by Washington to make the salary cap math work in a trade for Young — and it remains to be seen whether the Hawks would also have to send the Wizards draft capital to convince them absorb Young’s contract or if Washington would be making a direct play for Young — but the prospect of Atlanta trading its most popular player is only growing as the Feb. 5 trade deadline nears.

Sources tell The Stein Line that Young has been in communication in recent days with Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh and is aware of Atlanta’s ongoing efforts to establish a viable trade market for their four-time NBA All-Star.

The limited market Atlanta has found to this point has only increased the prospect of Young landing in the nation’s capital, with the Hawks apparently eager to move into a new phase for the franchise in the wake of an offseason during which it became apparent that a contract extension for their star guard wasn’t in the team’s plans.

In short, if a deal includes draft compensation (even a draft asset neutral deal) and doesn’t saddle the Hawks with onerous long-term money, it’s an immediate win. So now, let’s go through some of these mock trades that have been floating around the internet — at least the ones worth discussing.

Kevin Pelton in a piece for ESPN suggested this one:

This is a yes for me. McCollum’s deal ends this year AND the Hawks pick up another first this year. Sign me up.

The next one is a bit more mixed:

This one hinges on your opinion of Malik Monk. I don’t see him as a starting caliber point guard, but he’s settled in as a premier sixth man/combo guard type despite playing for the KANGZ. Too me, it’s too much of a longshot upside bet at roughly $20 million per year over the next three seasons — so according to my above rubric, I’ll pass.

I’ll cut to the chase — the final two suggested in the ESPN piece by Zach Kram are automatic NOs due to the bad future salary it adds to the books:

All of Kuzma, Portis, and Harris have 2026-27 salary in guarantees or player options, and all three are declining impact veterans with a chance to saddle the Hawks for next season and beyond — nowhere near the value of the future first. And Jerami Grant’s contract runs for another three years (with the option), creates a lot of on-court redundancy with Jalen Johnson, and therefore will be hard to move on.

Ricky O’Donnell for the mothership SBNation site tosses out some more interesting ideas minus the requisite draft compensation in either direction. Most are reset types of deals with mostly expiring money coming back to Atlanta, something that has my blessing, and as such it’s worth checking out here.

And finally, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic puts forth similarly framed deals. First up:

Yes for this deal to the Wizards (same logic as before).

Yes for this next deal to the Clippers with Collins and Bogdanovic’s deals expiring (also for the sentimental value of reacquiring two fan favorites).

And at this point, I’m holding off on an Anthony Davis trade, so no. For the reasons I outlined here, Davis is seeking a big extension off his current contract — which is already sizeable. But he has struggled with injuries ever since landing in Dallas, and I’m not sure the Hawks can afford to go all in on him.

General manager Onsi Saleh has preached the importance of “optionality” since arriving at his new position this past summer. The Hawks were able to bring in Kristaps Porzingis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker in trades with exceptions and other mechanisms in that time.

Remaining flexible is a must for a team that is still stuck in neutral. When they press on the gas pedal too quickly, things go awry.

So, while it’s tough to once again preach patience, even as the franchise cornerstone clearly wants a change in scenario, this is a must in the business of building a contending NBA team.

Get what you can for Trae Young, don’t chase shortcuts, and move forward. I promise that there will be an opportunity to reflect on a bygone era in due time.

---

What do you think? Which deals would you do? Please discuss below.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/atla...ks-nba-mock-anthony-davis-insider-information

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks get back in win column with 117-110 victory over the Pelicans

The Atlanta Hawks were in action on Wednesday evening to face the New Orleans Pelicans. With all the noise going on before the game, getting a win here would be big for the Hawks, and it would be even bigger getting it against the Pelicans, who they have the rights to their 2026 first-round draft pick.

Trae Young was out once again for the Hawks, and at this point, it seems like he may not suit up for the team again as the trade rumors continue to get hotter.

Nonetheless, there was a game that had to played.

It was a fast start for the Hawks, as they got some three-pointers to go, as well as some easy points in the paint.

Hot start for the good guys! pic.twitter.com/gS0w664J2b

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

The Hawks built a double digit lead, and it was thanks to Zaccharie Risacher and his hot shooting.

Zacch is 3-3 from 3 already pic.twitter.com/4czwF4PFrG

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

Kristaps Porzingis came in off the bench and was instant offense for the Hawks.

KP in the corner for pic.twitter.com/HlarWyiRFD

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

The Pelicans were able to cut down their deficit a little, but the Hawks had a few answers of their own. Luke Kennard knocked down a three late in the quarter to extend the lead, and were up 37-26 going into the second.

K3nnard pic.twitter.com/670Es9SnzS

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

Mouhamed Gueye was active on the boards to start the second, and he was rewarded with an and-one.

Mo with the tough board and tougher finish pic.twitter.com/9wc0uHmTIU

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

The Hawks continued to put the pressure on the Pelicans, creating good shots and getting stops on the other end. Nickeil Alexander-Walker was able to finish through contact on this play and get the and-one.

Keil through contact pic.twitter.com/X1tqDxv5gW

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

Down the stretch, it was the Zion Willliamson show for the Pelicans, and he drove down the lane on almost every possession and made the shot. That helped them cut their deficit down to single digits at a point, but the Hawks were able to weather the storm. Johnson and Risacher helped close out the half for the Hawks, and they went into the locker room, leading 65-53.

Gueye started off the quarter with his strong defense, and went coast to coast for this block.

Mo ran 3/4 of the court for this block pic.twitter.com/CYUbczjJNS

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

The Hawks continued to build their lead, and Risacher kept knocking down three-pointers.

Zacch splashes back-to-back threes pic.twitter.com/aDmY5tx94r

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

The ball movement was immaculate in the third, and a few passes led to an open Porzingis jumper.

Nickeil pocket pass to Mo, kickout to KP in the corner, buckets pic.twitter.com/mVUmN08n89

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

Gueye was a part of more big defensive plays, and Alexander-Walker joined in on the fun.

NAW & MO CHASEDOWN BLOCKS WITH AUTHORITY pic.twitter.com/zhPADQu3gz

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

It proved to be a great defensive quarter for the Hawks in general, as they held the Pelicans to only four made field goals and 13 points. Going into the fourth, the Hawks led 89-66.

Kennard started the quarter with a three-pointer.

Luke Kennard: eyehole pic.twitter.com/FAqbkvo0yX

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 8, 2026

(During the second half of the game, Shams Charania broke the news that Young was being traded to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert).

Though the Hawks had built a comfortable lead, they took their foot off the gas just a little late in the quarter, and the Pelicans cut down their deficit.

The Hawks were able to string some scores together to keep them afloat and extend their lead, ultimately giving them the win in the end.

Risacher finished with 25 points, Johnson finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, Alexander-Walker finished wit 17 points, and Gueye finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hawks will be back in action on Friday against the Denver Nuggets.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/recaps/67703/hawks-get-back-in-117-110-win-against-the-pelicans

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Hawks roll past Pelicans as Atlanta turns page

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks delivered a statement performance Wednesday night at State Farm Arena, rolling past the New Orleans Pelicans 117–100 behind a balanced scoring attack and tenacious defense.

With the victory, Atlanta improved to 18–21 on the season, while handing New Orleans its ninth straight loss as the Pelicans continue to slide in the Western Conference standings.

Atlanta jumped out early behind hot perimeter shooting. Zaccharie Risacher drilled two early three-pointers, helping the Hawks race out to a 12–4 opening run. The Hawks’ second unit soon provided a major spark, as Jalen Johnson attacked the rim relentlessly, drawing fouls and controlling the glass. Atlanta closed the half on a 9–2 run to take a 58–46 halftime lead.

Risacher was the standout, pouring in a season-high 25 points while knocking down multiple momentum-shifting shots from deep to keep the Pelicans’ defense stretched. Johnson also made his presence felt, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds, showcasing the multifaceted role he continues to grow into this season.

Atlanta’s offense never went quiet — seven Hawks finished in double figures — and the team controlled both the glass and the tempo throughout the night.

New Orleans received solid production from Zion Williamson (22 points, eight rebounds), but the Hawks’ depth proved to be too much. The Pelicans, sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, were never able to mount a sustained rally after Atlanta built a double-digit lead early.

However, the biggest news of the night came off the floor.

The Hawks officially ushered in a new era with the announcement of the Trae Young trade, marking the end of one of the most significant chapters in franchise history. Drafted in 2018 in a blockbuster draft-night deal that brought him to Atlanta from Dallas, Young quickly became the face of the franchise. Over seven seasons, he earned four All-Star selections, led the NBA in assists, and orchestrated one of the most thrilling playoff runs in team history — including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.

Atlanta now looks to carry this momentum forward as it begins a new chapter — and fittingly, that era opened with a win.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/anal...licans-new-orleans-final-trade-score-analysis

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

Trae Young era over, guard traded to Wizards

After seven and a half seasons in Atlanta, Trae Young has bid farewell to the only city he has known home in his NBA career.

Rumors had been accumulating for a while, but now a deal has finally been consummated between the Hawks and Wizards per Shams Charania of ESPN:

BREAKING: The Atlanta Hawks are trading four-time NBA All-Star Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/WIf8rhrRFu

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 8, 2026

Young, a four-time All-Star with the Hawks, was the runner up in Rookie of the Year voting after a massive draft night trade brought him to Atlanta.

He’s most fondly remembered for leading the Hawks past the four-seed New York Knicks and the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in a raucous postseason run to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. With that glory came a maximum extension off his rookie deal to cement himself as the face of the franchise. The next season, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2022.

It’s easy to forget just how gaudy his counting stats are. In his NBA career, he has averaged 25.2 points and 9.8 assists per game. His 9.8 assist per game average is currently third in NBA history behind only Magic Johnson and John Stockton.

Young is the Hawks franchise leader in three-pointers (1,295), assists (4,837), and assists per game (9.8) among other major benchmarks.

CJ McCollum is the main piece in return: a veteran scoring guard who can help the team right away. He will be a free agent at the end of the season. Corey Kispert is the one longer term player — a veteran wing who can really shoot. He has two more years left on his mid-sized deal before a team option in 2028-29.

This is clearly an earthshattering moment in the franchise’s history, and much will soon be unpacked about just how we got here. But I speak for all Hawks fans when I say, ‘thanks for the memories, Trae Young.’

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/late...gton-wizards-atlanta-hawks-latest-news-rumors

 

[Atlanta Hawks]

A eulogy for the superstar that Atlanta needed

No one ever thought it would end this way, and yet here we are.

On Wednesday in the middle of home game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Young was salary dumped traded for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. That was it. It’s a sad ending that precipitated quickly — quicker than all of us can reasonably grasp.

But let me try anyway.

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Trae Young was a lightning rod for discourse before even arriving in the NBA.

At Oklahoma, he was a one-man offense in 2017-18, leading the country in both scoring and assists per game averages. His logo distance bombs and frenetic pace of play produced ESPN-ready highlights on a weekly basis.

When he dropped 30, it was headline news. When he had a shooting slump, it was headline news. No matter what, Young was at the front and center of the college basketball world.

Then on draft night, he captivated NBA audiences as well without even dribbling a ball. The draft trade heard around the world: Luka Doncic and Trae Young traded for each other (and what would become the 10th overall pick in Cam Reddish in the 2019 draft).

It’s beyond fair to admit that the Hawks got the worst of that trade — and yet that moment was the beginning of a new era behind a supremely unique player.

---

For so, so long in Atlanta, all I heard was the Hawks never attract superstars. Despite this great city being a center for music, arts, television, movies, and culture (and the weather ain’t bad neither), rich and famous athletes always preferred other locations to the A.

Joe Johnson?

Great player for sure — but was he a superstar?

Well, he was traded for and given a superstar contract. Then in 2010, he was given an absolutely massive max contract — one even bigger than LeBron freakin’ James who famously headed to South Beach that offseason. He was a quiet assassin who got his 20 and five and had a flare for buzzer beaters.

But the Hawks remained the Hawks, and no one across the country noticed when the team was knocked out in the first or second round. Johnson was unceremoniously run out of town two offseasons after his megadeal.

Al Horford?

Homegrown lunch pail player who everyone loved — but was he a superstar?

At the end of his five-year extension off his initial rookie contract, the Hawks asked themselves that very question. Should we pay this jack-of-all-trade player a full maximum contract? That answer was no, and Boston’s was yes. That was 2016, and Atlanta Hawks fans were left to watch Horford produce from afar in two stints in Boston including during a 2024 title run.

Dwight Howard?

Just kidding. Let’s not revisit that one.

Since Dominique Wilkins was traded in early 1994 (that event is still a gut punch), the Hawks just never quite found a player who could galvanize the fanbase and connect with the city in that way.

Until 2018.

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Trae Young was (and is) a superstar with a bullet. This is not an on-court impact argument — this is a pop culture, news headlines, and team merchandise argument.

He put the Hawks on the map, even for just a moment in time. His audacious lobs to John Collins (sometimes off the glass!), nutmegs, and dizzying array of live dribble passes were instant viral hits on Youtube, TikTok, Twitter X, wherever the youth get their dopamine hits.

Sure, over the first two and a half seasons of his career, many people argued that it was all flash and no substance. The Hawks went 63-120 (.344) during Lloyd Pierce’s tenure coaching Young and others from the fall 2018 until the spring of 2021.

Did Young’s penchant for flamboyance over results get Lloyd Pierce fired? Is he now a coach killer?

Well, the 27-11 finish and subsequent run to the Eastern Conference Finals under Nate McMillan quieted those critics. Shoot, Trae Young himself quieted the numerous critics in Madison Square Garden on that fateful day in 2021.

Atlanta was relevant. No more of just a passing mention from national outlets.

The Hawks were here.

Sure, team success has been much harder to find since, but Young stacked up four All-Star Game appearances, countless 25-and-nine seasons, an assist crown in 2024-25, and all sorts of other individual accolades.

He launched a shoe line. He launched a podcast. He even ad-libbed on a track with Quavo and 2 Chainz. He was Atlanta culture.

---

We have now arrived at the end of the Trae Young era, and this is my eulogy.

Young was equal parts brash, confident, and ostentatious. He became a villain to many. He rubbed colleagues the wrong way.

But through it all, he was always starry.

When the clock ticked under five second in a close game in the clutch, he never backed down from launching something ridiculous.

The reality is the team since 2021 hasn’t been good enough, and his desire for an extension clearly didn’t line up with the organizations plans anymore. And so Young is now in the District of Columbia, and we must find a way to move on without him.

Even fond mental memories fade, but digital memories are forever. Highlight reels live on. Basketball-Reference stats are etched into industrial servers.

We can always revisit the Trae Young era in whatever fashion we find most comforting. But the Hawks had a true, genuine superstar — someone larger than life even at his physical stature.

And that’s something — and someone — we can find joy in reminiscing about.

Source: https://www.peachtreehoops.com/opin...ung-video-nba-latest-news-opinion-perspective