Trae Young hit some clutch free-throws, Dejounte Murray added 25 and the Atlanta Hawks held their poise to outlast a short-handed Philadelphia 76ers team at home. Yet Wednesday night’s overtime win belonged to small forward Jalen Johnson (25 pts, 16 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks), who shone when called upon in ways many hadn’t come to expect from the third-year man.
Johnson’s 25-point jolt, while Okongwu engaged defensively
For all their shot-making brilliance when on song, Atlanta defensively leave themselves vulnerable often on a team with two undersized – but no less skilled – guards and a tendency to clam up against well-prepared defensive schemes.
It’s why this 129-122 overtime victory against a Joel Embiid-less 76ers team is all the more satisfying in-front of their home crowd, given the off-ball work (deflections, steals, blocks, shot contests) which helped create an opening they duly seized.
“We stayed poised, been in this situation a couple of times before, just had to take care of itself… all about making the right play, that’s what we’re about as a team, making each other better and they do a great job helping me with that. It’s huge, we need to get some wins on our home floor, gotta keep going.
We stay ready, always in the gym, those guys [their bench unit] are the true definition of professionals – wouldn’t have won without them.”
- Johnson’s post-game interview with ESPN
Onyeka Okongwu produced a pair of big blocks in overtime to swat away Tobias Harris and later Kelly Oubre Jr, a defensive contribution made more impressive by the fact the power forward was playing with five fouls from 3:50 in the fourth.
It wasn’t just him, either.
Nick Nurse cut a confused figure on the sidelines after believing his star guard, Tyrese Maxey, had been fouled as he shaped to shoot with time expiring.
Replays showed although Dejounte Murray was closest in-front of him, Trae Young blocked his driving floater from the blindside before the ball had even left his hands.
The skeptic observer would then highlight Maxey (35 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, four steals) was a notable absence for the visitors during crunch time with 1:44 remaining in overtime, being harshly adjudged to have impeded Young as he drove into the paint and fouling out with his sixth of the evening.
Even still, it wasn’t a guarantee that Atlanta would overturn a two-point deficit at that stage – Johnson made a quartet of free throws, sunk a triple from a Murray assist and Onyeka’s defensive capabilities stood out in a big way with time expiring.
Johnson has taken a noticeable third-year leap with more minutes, responsibility and although 22 regular season games serves as a small sample size, that three-point percentage is healthy (.400) while De’Andre Hunter (knee injury) has stayed consistent as a 15-point scorer, enjoying a career-high percentage (40.4) from deep.
His progression will not have gone unnoticed and rather than create a wedge between two small forwards battling for the first-choice role once Hunter returns, it should encourage them to maximise the team’s potential – especially defensively.
Crunching the numbers
Hunter (24 games, all starts)
14.9 points on 46 FG% and 40.4 3P%, 4.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.4 BLK
Johnson (22 games, 19 starts)
15.4 points on 58.5 FG% and 40 3P%, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.9 BLK
What’s next?
The unpredictable Atlanta Hawks (15-21) snapped a two-game losing streak with this result, having endured a four-game losing run not long beforehand.
As such, it’s unsurprising to hear they are open to moving everyone not named Young or Johnson before next month’s trade deadline, though they’ve got four more home games between now and next Thursday – a winnable upcoming slate for them.
First is the Tyrese Haliburton-less Indiana Pacers on Friday night, before Washington (Sunday), San Antonio (Monday) and Orlando.
Philadelphia (23-13) are considering moves of their own too and experiencing a three-game losing streak, before a trio of upcoming televised games starting with Sacramento and Houston headlined by a cross-conference matchup against Nikola Jokic and the defending champion Denver Nuggets next Wednesday (12.30am BST).
They should have reigning MVP and superstar center Joel Embiid (swollen knee) back by then, though he’s listed as day-to-day and their schedule isn’t particularly kind between now and the All-Star break, so it’ll be interesting to see how they navigate this next month with trade speculation an ever-present eventuality.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via ESPN broadcast
Mo and Sports 