Instant Takeaways From The Atlanta Hawks Preseason Win Against the Miami Heat

1. Asa Newell showing he belongs

This summer, after the Hawks made a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans, they drafted Asa Newell. Since the NBA Summer League, he has shown himself to be another young, promising prospect for the Hawks roster. In tonight's game, Newell put on a show, scoring 19 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and recording two steals and two blocks. He demonstrated that he belongs in the NBA with highlight plays on both ends of the court, but he will likely be a long-term project for Atlanta as he is just 20 years old.

2. Hawks defense at the rim

One of Atlanta's keys to victory tonight was how well they protected the rim against Miami, as they finished the game with 15 blocks and forced 11 turnovers. While there were multiple highlight plays from the Hawks on defense, some of the main moments that stood out were Ndiaye's block early and the game-sealing block on the Heat, who made multiple attempts to score inside the paint. The Hawks would also end the game by getting a late defensive forced turnover, which led to the eventual game-winning shot by Atlanta.

3. Jacob Toppin

One of the Hawks' roster moves this summer was signing Jacob Toppin to the main roster after he had a solid showing in NBA Summer League play. Tonight, with the Hawks' first unit out, Toppin finished as the Hawks' leading scorer, as he finished with a team-high 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and one steal. A highlight moment from the game was when Toppin dropped one of the Heat's top defensive players, Davion Mitchell, to the ground after a fake-out crossover before a foul was called after he attempted a layup.

4. Hawks offense was clicking despite lack of starters

While this was announced late, the Hawks' first unit sat out for tonight's game and will be back in action on Thursday against Houston. However, the second and third units for the Hawks played, and it honestly looked like they didn't miss a beat, maintaining the same fast pace as the first unit. To open the game, the Hawks were able to get out to a nice lead due to the nice ball movement and Newell having a good scoring first quarter, but the Hawks would go on to give up a 16-0 scoring run to Miami, which led to a crazy late-game ending. In the fourth quarter, the Hawks would end regulation tied and would go into overtime down by as many as seven points before going on a run that ended in Caleb Houstan making a game-winning three-pointer.

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