The Hawks picked up a new nickname in their bid for the NBA Cup: Giant slayers.
They drew the group of death in Group Play, but they embraced the challenge and kept their sights on reaching Las Vegas for the semifinals and a potential in-season tournament championship.
On the way, the Hawks stunned the Celtics (without top guard Trae Young). Then they downed the Wizards after dropping two earlier non-Cup meetings between the two teams. After dropping their game to the Bulls in Chicago, they rebounded to give the Cavaliers back-to-back thrashings in a non-Cup game and a Cup matchup.
The Hawks' two wins over the Cavaliers sparked a six-game win streak that also included wins over the Hornets, Pelicans, Bucks and Lakers.
So, Wednesday's 108-100 win over the Knicks (their second of the season) in the quarterfinal of the NBA Cup reinforces that the Hawks have been playing winning basketball.
"I've been having a lot of fun this year with the guys we have," Young said. "I know we have a really young team. So it's fun, like the energy that we have on and off the court, we really get along. And it's just been great to be honest with you. And to be honest, you just want to keep stacking wins.
"And as a young team, when you win a few games, it's easy to look ahead and be worried about the next opponent, or get high whenever you beat a really good team, and I've been surprised and happy with this group the way we've been really able to focus on each game and not get too high or too low at any point in the season. Even when we were losing it with guys out early, we were able to still stay with it, and that's why we've been able to be successful lately. And we just got to keep doing it, and that's the goal."
They've played that same winning basketball despite Young's shots not falling.
Though Young has shot a career-low 31% from 3-point range, the 26-year-old's presence alone creates opportunities for his teammates to score. More importantly, Young has leaned on his teammates and has helped to facilitate balanced scoring among the Hawks' top eight players.
All eight of the Hawks' top players have averaged double-figure scoring.
Young has averaged a career-high and league-leading 12.2 assists per game and if he's not making the dishes, he's impacting the play by getting teammates into position. Opposing defenses have turned up the pressure on Young, blitzing him or picking him up full court in an attempt to take him out of the play.
But Young has help this season from the young trio of wings the Hawks have surrounded him with in the starting lineup. Between his backcourt partner in Dyson Daniels, rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher and breakout forward Jalen Johnson, the Hawks have a few options who can bring the ball up the court when defenses try to limit Young.
Johnson has averaged a career-high 5.5 assists, while consistently giving the Hawks close to 20 points a night. In Wednesday's win, Johnson dished seven assists, just three shy of a second triple-double, this season.
"His role is increased, obviously," Young said. "I mean, I joke with everybody all the time. I feel like this is his, like, second year. Just unfortunate injuries have been able to hold him back, and he's so talented, and everybody knew that when we took him out the draft, but just some of the injuries have been holding him back a little bit, and those are some things that he can't necessarily control.
"And now that he's able to be on the court for us, you kind of get to see what he brings. Every night's gonna be perfectly I mean, having a night like tonight, grabbing all those boards you did, and scoring when he needed to, and getting everybody involved. That's what we're used to now, and we're going to keep needing it from him."
Of course, assists would not be possible without the Hawks converting those passes. The Hawks lead the league in potential assists, averaging 54.3 per game with a 10.4% assist-to-pass ratio. They rank third in the NBA in field goals attempted and ninth in field goals made.
They've been most successful attacking the rim, taking advantage of their instincts to cut and slash in the paint.
In putting each other in positions to succeed and accepting them, the Hawks have begun to show the selflessness that general manager Landry Fields has highlighted as a characteristic of the team's DNA.
Hawks forward De'Andre Hunter has thrived coming off the bench and has positioned himself as a serious Sixth Man of the Year candidate. Wing Bogdan Bogdanovic has continued to find his way as a true 3-and-D guy, with increased energy on the defensive end while knocking down 35.3% of his 3s. While the team's centers have understood sacrifice in the fluctuation of their roles on a nightly basis.
"We had a really tough start at the beginning of the year, and I thought our team not only stayed together, but as we got guys back, there's some growing pains, trying to get connected," Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. "But this team's got a long runway. It's going to take us time.
"But I think games like this, hopefully, there's some confidence that builds, that you can play with some of the best teams. And, our challenge is going to be consistency. We're in the process of trying to establish an identity and that's something, you know, you need to win a lot of big games to do that. We're not there yet, but I'm happy for our guys."
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