The Atlanta Hawks had an impressive win on Friday night, taking down the Charlotte Hornets by 47 points, the biggest margin of victory in the history of the franchise.
That was not on the bingo card coming into the game.
It was a very well-balanced effort from Atlanta, with defense leading the way. The Hawks forced 25 turnovers, while only turning it over only 13 times themselves. It was not a great three-point shooting night for them as a whole, but they held the Hornets to just 21.6% from deep, and that was a big key heading into the game.
Even better news, the Hawks did not have to play any player more than 30 minutes and when you are on a back-to-back like they are against the Rockets tonight, that is a huge deal. They were able to empty the bench and get their vets some rest ahead of tonight's game.
When looking at individual performances from the win over Charlotte, who looked the best for Atlanta?
Starters
CJ McCollum: B-
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: B+
Dyson Daniels: A
Jalen Johnson: B
Onyeka Okongwu: B-
Daniels was the standout from the Hawks' win on Friday, and he did it in the way that Daniels typically shines. He scored 11 points (5-for-10 from the field), had nine rebounds, seven steals, and four assists. Daniels was close to tying his career-best in steals in a single game and was not far away from Mookie Blaylock's franchise record of 10. It has been an outstanding start to the season for Daniels.
Alexander-Walker did not have the big stats as he did against Orlando, but it was an effective night. He finished with 15 points, five assists, and two steals, while finishing with a team best +43 when on the court.
Johnson had a better game than he did on Wednesday, mostly because he was not having to deal with foul trouble. He put up his usual numbers of 19 points (9-for-16 shooting) and pulled in seven rebounds and handing out eight assists. The three-point shot is not falling yet, but Johnson is still making an impact.
McCollum and Okongwu had perhaps the least effective days of anyone in the starting lineup, but that does not mean they played terribly. McCollum finished with 13 points (11 in the first quarter) while Okongwu had 10 points and four rebounds. Neither player had to play too much and should be ready for a physical matchup vs Houston.
Bench
Aaron Wiggins: A
Kingston Flemings: B
Lu Dort: B-
Jock Landale: B
Once again, Aaron Wiggins was the star of the bench unit for the Hawks. He turned in a 19-point effort for Atlanta and had another great shooting night. With more nights like these, it might be time to start having the award conversations about Wiggins.
Flemings had another solid game. Despite only scoring five points, he was able to make a real impact by handing out eight assists, pulling in six rebounds, and playing good defense.
Dort's defense was felt in this game and on offense, he finished with nine points and five rebounds, shooting 1-for-3 from three.
Landale played nearly the same amount as Onyeka Okongwu due to it being a blowout and he ended up with an eight point, six rebound, four assist game. The three-point shot was not quite there for him, but it was a nice night for Landale.
Corey Kispert, Asa Newell, Zuby Ejiofor, and Dorian Finney-Smith each came in and played a little over eight minutes, but it is hard to really grade them due to the nature of the game and who they were playing against. Kispert played the best, scoring 11 points and shooting 3-for-4 from three.
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