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Posted: **Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:19 pm**

Hawks are putting it all together defensively and looking like last season’s team

“I love our defense,” Nate McMillan said after the Hawks’ win over the Celtics on Friday.

What’s become clear over Atlanta’s seven-game winning streak is the team’s defense is noticeably better. Trae Young has been a big part of the team’s defensive renaissance. Young has realized how he needs to be better, needs to give more effort and show his teammates he’s going to be useful defensively. A recent conversation between Young and McMillan illustrated that the star point guard is taking his coach’s words to heart.

McMillan told him that Atlanta’s defense starts with him. There were too many times in the first half of the season where Young would die on screens, not get back in transition and wouldn’t bother contesting a shot or closing out. We’re now seeing Young fight through screens, run back when there’s a leak out and close hard on shooters. That kind of effort can be and has been a difference-maker for the Hawks in the past two weeks and has them 24-25 after starting 17-25.

“I think it’s important that Trae sends a message to his teammates that he’s working on both ends of the floor and he’s not just playing on the offensive end of the floor,” McMillan said Saturday.

"...you can’t be taking most of the shots and [then] giving up points and baskets. You can’t do that. I like his approach. That’s something we’ve been talking about since last season — is being that leader and being that guy who gets his teammates to work with him and work for him at that point guard position. Working on the defensive end of the floor is the way to do that.”

Young said he believes the effort he gives will lead to a trickle-down effect if he’s giving it his all on the defensive end of the floor. He’s been accepting of McMillan’s challenge to continue to lock in defensively and doesn’t care if how he’s playing defensively lately goes unnoticed.

Buying in defensively was one of the biggest problems plaguing the Hawks to start this season. It hasn’t been a problem for the Hawks lately, even with teams still scoring in bunches. But we can’t say it’s due to a lack of effort right now.

“I think pride is a big factor. We wanted to be better defensively,” John Collins said.

In the last seven games, the Hawks have a defensive rating of 108.0, the sixth-best in the NBA. Having a healthy De’Andre Hunter helps, Onyeka Okongwu has been remarkable during this stretch and so has the bench unit, including defensive liabilities Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams. While Young playing better helps, everyone has taken a step forward on that end of the court.

One of the most frustrating things about the Hawks this season is it has always been clear they could’ve been the team we’ve seen over these past two weeks. They’ve scored with ease against just about everyone and have the NBA’s second-best offense. The Hawks started last season shaky defensively before figuring it out in the second half of the season. The results show they’re starting to put it together on the defensive end of the floor, and that’s what makes them dangerous.

A significant development for the Hawks is having Okongwu grow into an unmovable force in the center of the paint, no matter his matchup. You can see the makings of a team that is remarkable offensively with Young at the center of it all, 3-point shooters around him, Hunter being the lockdown point-of-attack defender on the perimeter and Okongwu/Capela the necessary rim protectors.

If they can continue to put it all together in the next few months, just maybe the Hawks can go on another second-half run.

Posted: **Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:22 pm**

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Posted: **Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:23 pm**

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Posted: **Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:29 pm**

Hawks beat Celtics 108-92 behind active defensive effort

Six wins in a row for Atlanta

The Atlanta Hawks hosted the Boston Celtics on Friday night as they looked to extend their five-game winning streak. The Hawks were able to extend their streak to six games with an end-to-end 108-92 win over the Celtics in this one. While Boston threatened at times, the Hawks never trailed in the final three quarters of this game as their defense carried them to the win.

John Collins led Atlanta to the win with 21 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Trae Young added 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 19 points off the bench, with Danilo Gallinari adding 14.

The Hawks were all over Boston out of the gates in this one, leading the Celtics by a score of 32-20 after the opening period. The defensive effort was there from the jump.

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Defense was the story in this game, as the Hawks racked up double-digit steals and blocked shots in the win for the first time in over three years.

Peachtree Hoops

Posted: **Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:05 pm**

I like the newfound effort that's on display defensively, although i'm not buying in just yet that we've magically turned things around. It's certainly a sign for optimism, but we've caught a few teams at the right time, and most were already aware, the team wasn't as bad as the record showed. Between injuries and lack of defensive effort, we looked like a bottom 5 team for sure.

All this shows currently is that teams will look for another chink in the armor, and i'm not sure we're at a point where we can say our team defense will always be there to get stops just because we're playing with better effort.

Posted: **Tue Feb 1, 2022 8:41 pm**

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Posted: **Fri Feb 4, 2022 5:24 pm**

Hope they can stay healthy (need to check John injury update) and continue on this rhythm.
They are back at last year level.

There is only one thing I would like to see improved : the starters are able to do the best we can see, but also sometimes lost their ball movement.
The new rotations are good, especially with Bogi coming from the bench. I think him and Gallo benefits from watching how it works and get better impact once on the court.

Now, if I said that I hope a better impact from the starters, it's that I kind of seeing it in the games, and I just checked something and it confirms that : Efficiency difference with opponent for bench and starters on the last 10 games

Bench : we have the best bench of the league

Starters : they are 18th

And it was pretty much like that in this game Vs PHX regarding +/-, they dominate most while bench players were used (all together or sharing with starters)

So it's already good, but it would be perfect if starters could create chemistry and dominate a bit more than now
One example to improve even if I saw some kind of that lately : the inside-out plays, especially with Clint and John inside. But it's not all on them, like one of the previous game where Hunter was standing in the corner while John was posting his opponent.
If they can improve movement and have more option when one player is posting or attacking the rim, they should take better decisions and dominate more