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RECAP: Trae Young Puts on Passing Clinic, Daniels' Defense Comes Up Big As Hawks Beat Kings, 109-108

The Hawks made it a game when they didn;'t need to, but found a way to wreste victory from Sacramento on a clutch block.

Rohan Raman

Nov 18, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket against Sacramento Kings forward Trey Lyles (41) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Nov 18, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket against Sacramento Kings forward Trey Lyles (41) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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The surprise scratch of Jalen Johnson was not a great omen for Atlanta's chances of winning this one. They needed to show a rebound performance after coming out flat against the Blazers in a mistake-filled, 114-110 loss. Losing their second-best player minutes before the game started certainly did not help their chances. However, they had two key areas of growth for this game: take care of the ball and show a consistent effort throughout. In their game against Portland, the Hawks turned the ball over a staggering 27 times and looked wildly inconsistent from quarter to quarter. Tonight was a step in the right direction.

Throughout the first half, the Hawks shot well from three-point range. They hit on 42.1% of their attempts from deep and went 9-11 from the charity stripe. Considering how rough they have looked shooting the ball, that would be enough to be comfortably ahead or in stride with anyone. However, despite only being down 64-66, things felt significantly worse because the Kings were shooting a blistering 58.3% from deep. Sacramento also beat Atlanta up on the boards, grabbing 30 rebounds to their 19. Part of that can be attributed to lackluster defense and a poor opening showing from Trae Young, who had four points and missed both of his attempts from deep at half.

Fortunately, they buckled down and showed some clutch defense to get themselves a nice win after a rough night against Portland. Young finished with only seven points, but collected 19 assists and two steals while Risacher led the Hawks in scoring with 18 points. Capela had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Daniels added 14 of his own with two made threes, eight rebounds and a staggering four blocks. DeAndre Hunter also had a massive 24-point game off the bench largely fueled by hitting nine of his fifteen attempts from the field.

For Sacramento, Keon Ellis was on a scorcher with 33 points and nine made three-pointers. Fox chipped in 27 while Trey Lyles had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. They felt the absence of big man Domantas Sabonis, forward DeMar DeRozan and combo guard Malik Monk keenly in this one as no other King finished in double-digits.

Let's recap tonight's game.

Due to Johnson's absence, the Hawks went with a starting lineup of Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Garrison Mathews, Zaccharie Risacher and Clint Capela. Sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic also made his return to the lineup, but Atlanta elected to not start him and instead use him as a bench shooter as he returns back to form. Head coach Quin Snyder likely inserted Mathews into the starting lineup because of his size (6'6) and shooting ability (45.7% from deep on 5.4 attempts a game).

In the early part of the first half, Atlanta looked like they were going to run away with this game. Zaccharie Risacher got things going for the Hawks on the dime from Trae Young that led to Risacher hitting a three-pointer. It sparked a 19-6 run for Atlanta where Young was at the epicenter. Although he didn't score for the entire first quarter, he had five assists during the run. Risacher also made an impact as a scorer, scoring a quick nine points to cover up for Young's slow start.

Bogdan Bogdanovic and DeAndre Hunter checked in off the bench as the first subs. Bogdanovic instantly made an impact in his return, connecting on a three after Young found him.

However, the lead they built quickly evaporated as Sacramento clawed their way back into the game. Two threes from Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray gave the Kings life as they went on a 14-3 run. Hunter finally broke their momentum with a three of his own, but the Kings turned a 22-6 game into a 28-20 affair. They kept it going from deep with four threes over the last two minutes to make it a 32-31 game at the end of the first quarter. Atlanta's perimeter defense got burned towards the end of the first quarter after starting strong.

Unfortunately, the trend continued in the second quarter. Sacramento took the lead on two consecutive threes from Ellis, who went on to hit six threes in the first half alone. The Hawks had no answer for him and it didn't seem to matter who they covered him with. On his sixth three-pointer, he turned Daniels inside out and had him stumbling before hitting the three to give the Kings a nine-point lead. Fortunately, the Hawks' offense was able to somewhat keep pace with Sacramento. Much of that has to be attributed to Young, who turned in a masterclass of a playmaking display with 11 assists before the two-minute mark of the second quarter. Plays like this are a great example of how Young can impact the game even when his shot isn't at its best.

However, credit also has to be given to DeAndre Hunter. Hunter consistently capitalized on the opportunities the defense was giving him. He showed activity as a cutter and even found an open Garrison Mathews for a three-pointer that quenched a 13-7 run for the Kings. The Hawks were down 45-53 at this point, but a 14-6 run from the Hawks notted things up at 59-59 with two minutes to go. Hunter split two free throws after getting fouled before Doug McDermot answered back with a three-pointer that gave Sacramento a 62-60 lead. A former member of the Hawks' ECF run in Kevin Huerter found space within Atlanta's leaky defense to hit a layup before Trey Lyles converted another lay-in to make it a 66-62 game. Hunter got a dunk to give the Hawks a 64-66 deficit at halftime. It should also be noted that this was overall a good half for Risacher. Even though he faded after a hot start, he was still very active and showed a good sense of where to be within the flow of the offense.

At halftime, the Hawks found themselves in a winnable situation. They just needed to play a tighter brand of defense and keep the Kings from going on any big runs. For much of the third quarter, they struggled with the latter part. Murray instantly hit a floater before Risacher answered with a make of his own on the feed from Young. Both teams traded buckets before the Kings started to break away by getting an 80-72 lead with 6:34 left in the quarter. Fortunately, Mathews grabbed a timely rebound and found Daniels under the basket for a layup. That turned into a careless turnover from Huerter that Risacher got, which led to a Danies stepback to make it a 77-80 game. Fox put a stop to any Hawks momentum with a drive inside to finish with a layup before Keon Ellis picked an excellent time to hit his ninth three of. the night. Ellis simply couldn't miss from deep for Sacramento throughout the game and it gave the Hawks fits. It also made the game 85-77 in the Kings' favor before Young and Daniels found their targets on passes and racked up assists on route to a 86-88 game. Jordan McLaughlin started to find some momentum as a scorer, hitting a jumper and forcing two free throws for the Kings late in the period. He then found Fox for a pull-up jumper to give Fox 21 points on the night and a 93-86 lead for Atlanta. Hunter hit another three to make it 93-89 heading into a pivotal fourth quarter.

Hawks basketball seems to be uniquely designed to come down to the wire and that is exactly what happened in this one. The narrow 109-108 victory was tense throughout and neither team was really able to establish any momentum. Ironically, this was also the worst offensive quarter for both teams. The quarter started at 92-93 and ended at 109-108, so the Hawks really only needed a few key buckets to close the game out. It started with a Bogdanovic three-pointer to cut the deficit to 1. The Hawks then missed five straight attempts from the field with their only points coming off Capela dunks or a Risacher layup. Regardless, the chemistry between Young and Capela really shown in the fourth and the Hawks would not have won this game without it.

This stretch of poor Atlanta offense also coincided with a Risacher pass getting nabbed by Ellis, who quickly dished it to Fox for a pull-up three that gave the Kings a 99-96 lead with five minutes to go. He was responsible for the Hawks scoring on five of their last seven attempts from the field and routinely found Capela in exactly the right spot. Hunter also hit a big-time three late in the game to give the Hawks a 105-101 lead with 3:21 to go. From there, the combo of Daniels and Capela took over. Capela had a putback layup and split his free throws with 1:28 to go, which gave the Hawks a narrow 109-106 lead. They had to sweat out two free throws from Ellis and he made both to make it a one-point game. Daniels and Hunter both missed threes, which gave the Kings one last chance at it. Unsurprisingly, the ball ended up in Fox's hands and he tried for the step-back dagger. Fortunately, Daniels was able to stay with him and got the game-sealing block to give Atlanta a needed win.

For the game, Atlanta shot 42.1% from deep and 83% from the line, which is largely why they stayed in this game and eventually won it. Sacramento shot 43.5% from deep, but faltered down the stretch and only hit 73.7% of their free throws.

The Hawks will look to carry this over into a big matchup with the Warriors tomorrow at 10 pm.

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Rohan Raman
ROHAN RAMAN

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