One of The Biggest Winners Of The NBA Cup? Look No Further Than The Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta made a run to the NBA Cup Semifinals and look like a team to be reckoned with this season

Dec 14, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) controls the ball against Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. (5) during the fourth quarter in a semifinal of the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images / Candice Ward-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Hawks battled the Milwaukee Bucks all the way to the final whistle in yesterday's NBA Cup semifinal, but they came up just short in the 108-100 loss and now their run in the NBA Cup is over. Atlanta will go back to the regular season and hope to continue their climb in the Eastern Conference Standings. Despite the loss, there is plenty to like from what the Hawks showed.

While it is not 100% a playoff atmosphere, the NBA Cup is as close as you are going to get to playoff-type games in the regular season. Why is that important? Because this group has not played in those kinds of games yet together. This should be beneficial for the Hawks as the season goes on and they challenge for a spot in the playoffs. The Hawks got the attention of most around the league and were recently named one of the big winners of the NBA Cup by Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey:

"The Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets couldn't win their respective semifinal matchups against the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas, but they're still winners for this exercise.

Both teams rely heavily on young cores that benefited from the experience of these high-pressure games.

Houston has Alperen Şengün, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Reed Sheppard and Cam Whitmore (when he's healthy) in its rotation. All are 23 and under.

The Hawks, meanwhile, are playing Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, rookie Zaccharie Risacher and Onyeka Okongwu big minutes. They're all 24 or younger.

All of the above helped force the league to give them more national TV exposure. And if they keep their respective teams on this upward trajectory, they could be part of the solution to bring fans back to the league en masse."

The biggest reason for the Hawks NBA Cup run? It is not their offense, but their defense. Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Clint Capela, De'Andre Hunter, and Jalen Johnson anchor the Hawks defense, but the improvement that Trae Young has made this year on that end of the court should be noticed.

After practice on Tuesday, Young was asked about what it was like for him to see so many people giving him praise for his defensive improvement and here is what he had to say:

"Yeah, I mean, I have seen it, a lot of my friends have been sending it to me and my little brother sent it to me as soon as the game was over and I mean I am upset that we lost but a lot of those moments are really cool. But I mean for me, if we were on TV a lot, especially this year, the culture for me and really this whole team on the defensive end and understanding that the offense is going to come and that if you want to win and that is what you want to do, I am the type of guy that would rather show it than talk about it and it starts on that end."

Again, Young is not the premier defender on the team, but his buy in is crystal clear and the Hawks would not be where they are without his improvement on that end of the court.

The Hawks have won seven of their last nine games and made a run to the NBA Cup Semifinals and the defense had a lot to do with it. Atlanta is up to 15th in points allowed per 100 possessions and they could keep climbing. If they do, this could be a team to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.

Additional Links

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