Tonight's game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Jazz was not going to be circled on anyone's calendar, but there were some interesting angles to this game.
First, it was the first time that former Jazz coach and current Hawks head coach Quin Snyder coached against his former team. Second, it was the first game back in Atlanta for former Hawks forward John Collins since he was traded to Utah last summer.
Snyder talked about his time in Utah before the game:
"It is true in so many ways how that time impacted me and my family. It was some great years and Ryan and that relationship, Danny, Justin, so many people in that organization to be impressed with, the players that I have had a chance to see over the course of games this year. So obviously, fond probably understates it as far as the memories that are there and then you can't really do it without the fans and the people in the community that made that not just meaningful but impactful for me and so many families. "
In terms of the actual basketball game, the Hawks were looking to win their second game in a row and move to 2-0 since the announcement of Trae Young's injury.
They stuck with the same starting lineup that they had in Sunday's game vs the Magic. Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela were the first five on the floor.
Utah started Keyonte George, Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Taylor Hendricks, and Collins.
The first quarter was an ugly slog for both teams, but particularly the Jazz.
The Hawks raced out to a 12-0 lead and it took Utah nearly five minutes to even score a basket. Utah has a pretty solid offense with guys that can score, but they were completely out of sync from the start against Atlanta.
During the first timeout, the Hawks gave Collins a fitting tribute video.
The rotation for the Hawks was the same tonight. De'Andre Hunter, Kobe Bufkin, Garrison Matthews, and Bruno Fernando came off the bench tonight and all had contributions.
After the first quarter, the Hawks led 26-18. It was an uneven quarter for both, but Utah had a hard time holding on to the ball and could not get anything going on offense.
The second quarter was more of the same, but it was also where you could see Jalen Johnson putting his imprint on the game. Johnson had another fantastic game tonight and was controlling the pace when bringing up the ball and he was also doing a great job of controlling the glass.
Another noticeable thing was how the Hawks as a team were handling the size of Utah. The Jazz are a big team and one of the best offensive-rebounding teams in the NBA, but that did not bother the Hawks at all.
At the end of the first half, Atlanta led 55-44. The Hawks shot 44% from the field and 29% from three. Johnson led the way with 14 points.
Utah shot 39% from the field and 20% from three. Markkanen and Sexton had 10 each.
The second half was largely non-competitive.
Murray, Bogdanovic, and Johnson all had good third quarters and the Hawks outscored Utah 34-25 in the quarter. The Hawks led by 20 going into the quarter and the Jazz could could not close the gap.
Atlanta would win the game 124-97 and held their second straight opponent to under 100 points. The Hawks have been a poor defensive team all season, but they have stepped up in the last two games and it will be interesting to see if they can keep that momentum on that end of the floor going forward.
After the game, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder had this to say about the Hawks defensive effort over the last two games:
"I think other than we had some stretches where particularly live ball turnovers, but when we got settled, I thought we did a better job of staying in front of the ball and our bigs came over and contested shots and got rebounds. It is playing through a whole possession and I think we are helping each other more.
Johnson led the way for Atlanta with 22 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, and overall, the Hawks had five players reach double figures. They shot 50% from the field and 38% from three in this game.
The Hawks defense held Utah to 37% from the field and 29% from three.
Up next for the Hawks are three straight road games. They will face the Nets twice and then the Knicks before they return home to face Cleveland. If they can find a way to beat the Nets in both games, it will give them a huge advantage in the race to make the play-in tournament.
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