The Atlanta Hawks have extremely high expectations come into this season. After losing the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals 4 games to 2, the Hawks have lofty goals. Their fanbase and the city of Atlanta are extremely excited and they have high expectations for the team as well. The Hawks started this season on a positive note and are living up to these high expectations through the first regular-season game. They defeated the Dallas Mavericks in a blowout victory, 113-87. The team was clicking on a high level on the court. The State Farm Arena home crowd pushed the team as well.
Trae Young led the way for the Hawks with 19 points. He shot 6 of 16 from the field in 33 minutes of play. He also shot 2 of 5 from the three-point line. Young also did his job well as the Hawks’ Floor General and dished out 14 assists on the night. Young felt great about the win and he expressed that postgame. He also felt encouraged about the fact the Hawks are able to easily go 10, 11 guys deep any given game.
“It’s a good problem to have,” Young said. “We’ve got so many guys who can play.”
Coach McMillan feels the same way as Trae Young about the Hawks’ depth this season. This aspect of this team helped the Hawks turnaround things last season once McMillian took the helm. The team’s depth will prove to be vital this season as well.
“We can play 10, 11 guys,” McMillan said. “There’s no need to pace yourself when you have a bench that can come in. We want to keep the pressure on an opponent.”
More Hawks Contributions
- Cam Reddish scored 20 points and grabbed 3 rebounds off of the bench.
- John Collins scored 16 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists.
- Clint Capela scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
- De’Andre Hunter scored 11 points and grabbed 3 rebounds.
- Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 11 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, and dished out 2 assists.
The Hawks will be traveling to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers on Saturday, 10/23. Tip-off is at 6 pm Eastern at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
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