Alas, the Atlanta Hawks have snapped their four-game losing streak, following their 123-110 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.
Head coach Lloyd Pierce praised his team for playing a complete game tonight after the game.
“It just felt like offensively and defensively, we put together what we wanted to do,” he said.
The players felt the same way in the locker room. The energy was vibrant and the team was smiling, except for Cam Reddish after finding out his Duke Blue Devils were upset by the Clemson Tigers.
Reddish had the assignment of guarding Devin Booker, who dropped 37 points before picking up a second technical foul late in the fourth quarter–which resulted in an automatic ejection. Coach Pierce felt that the rookie played well and did everything he could to stop the all-star caliber guard.
When asked what wouldn’t show up in the box score tonight, Pierce immediately alluded to the matchup.
“There are certain guys in this league that are going to get 30, no matter what,” Pierce said, referring to Booker’s exceptional talent. “If they don’t get it, it’s an off night than what any team will do.”
Stat line of the night goes out to Kevin Heurter, who was two rebounds shy of his first career triple-double, saved the best game of his young career so far for the Suns. The second-year guard out of Maryland recorded 23 points (8-14 FG, 4-5 from three-point), while pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds (in a game that features two exceptional big men), and dishing out eight assists.
“Amazing… amazing.”
To say the least, forward John Collins was ecstatic following the Atlanta Hawks’ 123-110 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, snapping their four-game losing streak. “Always good to come together, get a nice team win. It’s calming a little bit and hopefully, we can build on this,” Collins said.
For the Wake Forest product, it was a stellar all-around performance against one of the league’s premier young talents, Suns’ center Deandre Ayton. Both men pulled down 10 rebounds, but it was Collins who won the scoring battle, 22-20.
But the man of the night was Trae Young.
The second-year guard out of Oklahoma is more than likely heading to Chicago for the All-Star Game next month. His 36 points and 10 assists are numbers that have become pretty regular. How could you not want to vote him in after the season he’s had?
Go vote for Trae and your favorite Hawks players as they look ahead to their game Saturday night where they will travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs at 8:30 pm EST.
