The Atlanta Hawks kicked off the 2020-21 tour with a close loss to Orlando Magic in the team’s early opening game on Friday evening. On Sunday, the same two teams clashed at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta’s preliminary final. 48 minutes later, the Hawks won 116-107.
Atlanta’s offense fired (almost) all the cylinders in the first quarter, which had an effective game on board. D’Andre Hunter and Kevin Hர்டder expressed outrage from the opening players, and Danilo Cullinari was a standout early on.
Culinary was treacherous in his end, he was effective in cutting and went just in time on the way to 10 points in the first period.
As a team, the Hawks took a double-digit lead of 20-6, and the defense played well. Atlanta came out on top with ten points after 12 minutes, shooting 60 percent off the ground and 11 out of 9 from the free throw line. Culinary led, but Trey Young added five points in the opening over and a game-high five assists.
After stopping with just eight players in the first quarter, Atlanta expanded its rotation to ten players in the second quarter. Hawks continued to illuminate the positive elements, but the double-digit lead cut one in the latter half. Atlanta pushed the edge to six within half an hour, however, as the team combined a few standard attacking possessions and Young pulled a three-pointer in the final seconds.
Coming out of the break Atlanta was really dull, and Orlando prompted a decision. Magic scored the first seven points of the third quarter, but as the Hawks regained order they played well.
The title of this period was driven by the 19-0 (!) Hawks, which included a three-pointer back-to-back from Bokton Bokdanovic. This put Atlanta ahead 83-66, and it was a team-level barrage from Young to Solomon Hill.
At the end of the quarter Orlando climbed back into the river, but the Hawks hit seven triples and had nine assists in third place. Some of them were triggered by a quality defensive effort, and apart from the opening minute, there was a lot to be positive about Atlanta.
Orlando reduced their lead from 17 to one in the fourth quarter. However, Atlanta never gave up the advantage, Young played well and made enough shots to maintain the distance.
The Hawks scored six straight points to send the lead to double digits in the final 3:30, and it was enough to achieve some consolation. In the end, Atlanta used its regular cycle to the end, winning the team’s first pre-season victory.
Young led with 21 points and seven assists, while Kabela (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Collins (13 points, 11 rebounds) advanced to the doubles-doubles division. Boktanovic (18 points) led the reserves this night, while Hunter (15 points, seven rebounds) and Culinary (17 points, seven rebounds) made significant contributions.
Atlanta will return to action on Thursday evening with a preemptive road game against Memphis Chryslice. The Hawks will not return to Atlanta for a game until the regular season home opener on December 28th.
Please wait.