Summer League Game 5: Hawks lose to Kings 93-87

The Hawks dropped their final Summer League game 93-87 to the Kings and finished their trip to Las Vegas with a 1-4 record. The Hawks got very solid performances from Mike Scott, John Jenkins, Dennis Schröder, and Shelvin Mack. Scott led the Hawks with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and played an aggressive game getting to the rim, drawing six shooting fouls and making all 12 of his free throws. Jenkins added 19 points of his own, but continued to struggle from the three point line going just 2-of-9 from downtown.

Dennis Schröder continued to impress, scoring 15 points and dishing out five assists. He had his best shooting night from long-distance going 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and did well containing Ray McCallum, forcing him into a 12 point night on 33% shooting. Shelvin Mack, also trying to impress and solidify his role on the Hawks, had a nice performance scoring 12 points on 50% shooting (2-of-3 from three).

Rookies Lucas Nogueira and Mike Muscala's games were cut short due to injuries. Nogueira, who had five first half blocks, left the game with hamstring tightness that is not believed to be anything severe, but being Summer League there was no reason to have him play through the injury. Muscala suffered a right calf strain and left the game in a walking boot, but told me that he didn't think it was very severe and they were just taking precautions.

On the Kings side, McCallum, despite a poor shooting day and being harassed by Schröder, dished out a game high 11 assists to go with his 12 points. Ben McLemore had his best game of the week, scoring 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting and gathered in nine rebounds. McLemore had a few big dunks on the game, including a thunderous dunk on Mike Scott in the second quarter.

The Hawks now return to Atlanta with a better idea of who can play (and who can't) and will begin the process of finalizing their roster. Decisions will have to be made regarding Lucas Nogueira and Mike Muscala and whether to send them overseas or not, and after seeing both here in Las Vegas, they will have a larger body of work to go off of when making those decisions.

Dennis Schröder was the darling of Summer League and had every media member swooning over his incredible athleticism, fluidity on defense, wingspan, hand size, and ability to command the offense. Dennis appears to be ready to play in the NBA and seems to have all of the intangibles a team looks for in their point guard. His performance in Summer League has everyone excited about his growth going forward into training camp and the season.