Hawks use well-balanced attack in dominant 120-105 win over Grizzlies

The Atlanta Hawks were back at home to face the Memphis Grizzlies. Unfortunately for the Hawks, they were without their two best players with Trae Young being ruled out with a left quad contusion, and John Collins being ruled out indefinitely with a finger and foot injury.

Even without their top players, the Hawks were able to defeat the Grizzlies, 120-105.

In order for the Hawks to win, they needed to find more shooting with Young out. Delon Wright started that off on the right note with 11 points in the first quarter.

The Hawks got off to a 10-point lead early due to their hot shooting. The Grizzlies fought back and hit some tough shots on their own, and cut the lead with the help of Desmond Bane.

The Hawks continued their hot shooting in the quarter and were able to secure a 34-27 lead heading into the second quarter. Onyeka Okongwu carried on his strong play over the last few games and was a big factor to start the quarter.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarot was also a bright spot with seven points, making all his shot attempts in the first half. On the other hand, it was not a good shooting half for the Grizzlies, as they couldn’t get into a rhythm with the Hawks defense making plays.

Taking advantage of the poor shooting, the Hawks were able to take an 18-point lead late in the second quarter. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Clint Capela were active down the stretch with their two-man game.

De’Andre Hunter was aggressive in the first half with 12 points.

The Hawks were able to score 30+ points in each quarter of the half and went into the locker room with a 67-48 lead against the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies came out more aggressive in the second half, as Ja Morant put the pressure on the Hawks defense early. They also did a better job containing the Hawks offense and cut their deficit down throughout the third quarter.

It was a cold streak for the Hawks during a point in the quarter, but the Hawks were able to turn defense into offense and increase their lead to 16.

Capela did his best Young impression with this look to Wright.

More big man work, but this time from Okongwu.

Being able to lock back in after the Grizzlies run was big for the Hawks and they went into the fourth leading 91-72.

The Grizzlies were not going to back down and went on another run to cut their deficit once again. It was up to the Hawks to find consistent offense, and Bogdanovic, who has been struggling with this shot the past few games, came up with a few threes to help.

Bogdanovic put the icing on the cake, with his fifth three of the night.

It was an impressive performance for the Hawks on both sides of the ball, as a number of players stepped up in the absence of Young.

Bogdanovic finished with 30 points, while Wright and Capela both finished with 18 points. Hunter added with 14 points.

The Hawks will be back at home on Sunday to take on the New Orleans Pelicans.

Staty tuned.