Atlanta Hawks bludgeon Sacramento Kings in 126-80 blowout

The Atlanta Hawks finally returned back to Phillips Arena Wednesday night for a game against the young Sacramento Kings. The Hawks have been playing teams close of late and don’t have much to show from it, but all signs point to the Hawks winning more games soon.

The Hawks inactives for Wednesday’s game were DeAndre Bembry, who is rehabbing a broken wrist, and Miles Plumlee who went on a rehab assignment with the Erie Bayhawks Wednesday. Ersan Ilyasova made his return from missing major time with a bone bruise on his knee. Mike Muscala also did not play once again on Wednesday.

The Hawks came out hot, hitting their first eight shots in a row before (finally) missing. Sacramento had no answer at all for Hawks big man Dewayne Dedmon as he dominated on both ends of the floor for Atlanta. Luke Babbitt was also unguardable early on knocking down three after three. The Hawks put up a pretty great defensive effort themselves and came out of the first leading 24-16.

In the second quarter, it seemed the Hawks got even better with Dewayne Dedmon posting a first half double-double. Tyler Cavanaugh gave the Hawks some really good minutes in the second quarter hitting a three pointer and making some very nice passes. The first half was really all Dedmon as he posted 18 points and 11 boards in the first half to give the Hawks a huge lead at halftime of 64-35.

After 21 Savage got everyone hyped at halftime, the Hawks came out sort of slow but Dennis Schroder was able to slow things down to get the Hawks back in control. The Kings got some good minutes out of their two veteran players George Hill and Zach Randolph and they were able to narrow the lead slightly but could not make a huge dent.

The Hawks continued their dominance in the fourth quarter going up by 40 points midway through the quarter. John Collins had a couple of ferocious jams on Sacramento big man Giorgios Papagiannis. Atlanta had an overall great defensive night and were unstoppable from 3-point-land. The Hawks went on to get an easy win that was never really in question but the final margin of 46 points doubled as the largest in franchise history.

Dewayne Dedmon put up easily his best game of the season posting 20 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Dennis Schroder had a great night as well with 21 points and 8 assists. Luke Babbitt was great before leaving at halftime with lower back spasms.

The Hawks will face off against the number 1 defense in the league on Saturday in their matchup with Boston. Stay tuned.