The Atlanta Hawks had to work for this one.
After rolling into the night with three straight Summer League wins and back-to-back double-digit victories, Atlanta ran into a Brooklyn Nets team that had the upper hand for most of the game. The Hawks didn’t take control until the fourth quarter, when they finally found their rhythm and closed out the comeback.
Brooklyn set the tone early by turning up the pressure and making life miserable for Atlanta. The Nets forced 11 first-half turnovers, and Kingston Flemings was visibly worn down after the first quarter, when he spoke with ESPN's sideline reporter.
The Nets also made their money in transition and around the rim. They pushed the pace, got out on the fast break, and finished efficiently in the half-court. But the outside shot that helped them build that edge didn’t hold up, and Atlanta started to swing the game back in the second half.
Chaney Johnson was one of the biggest problems for the Hawks. He kept getting to the basket with ease and finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, five steals, and shot 50% from three-point range.
Flemings had a strong opening stretch, but Brooklyn made sure the second half looked very different. The Nets picked him up full-court and took away his speed and his ability to create for others. He put up nine points, three assists, two rebounds, one block, and four turnovers in the first half, then finished the game with nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, one block, and six turnovers.
His shooting line told the same story. Flemings hit 57% of his shots in the first half, then went 0-for-4 and didn’t score after halftime. Even so, he stayed active on the sideline in his own way, coaching up teammates and urging them to keep getting to their spots so he could set them up for easier looks.
Atlanta’s response came on the other end of the floor. After coughing it up four times in the first half, the Hawks cleaned things up and cut their turnovers down to four in the second half as they steadied themselves and pushed back.
The starting group never really got rolling, with only Zuby Ejiofor reaching 13 points, but the bench gave Atlanta the lift it needed. Kobe Johnson led that charge with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
Zeke Mayo added 11 points, two rebounds, and three steals, while Isaiah Wong chipped in 10 points, two rebounds, and one block. Those three were the difference in giving Atlanta the depth it needed to finish the job.
In Other News...
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The Hawks spent the offseason trying to thread a tricky needle: get better now without losing sight of what comes next. That meant swinging big for Aaron Wiggins from Oklahoma City at the cost of two first-round picks, then turning around and adding three rookies with the No. 8, No. 23 and No. 57 selections while also keeping familiar veterans around on one-year deals to stabilize the rotation.
There is a clear logic to the mix, even if the front office is still waiting to see how it all fits together. CJ McCollum gives Atlanta another proven shot creator, Jock Landale adds insurance behind Onyeka Okongwu, and Mouhamed Gueyes option keeps a developmental piece in place, but the move that may say the most about where the Hawks are headed is the one for Devin Carter, a former lottery pick whose defensive upside could make him another useful layer in the bench picture. [Read more 🡒]
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Landales agreement also fits into a wider league-wide run of contract housekeeping, with details emerging on players such as Trey Lyles, Jaylen Clark, Marcus Smart, Norman Powell, Ousmane Dieng, Jaxson Hayes, Josh Okogie and Jusuf Nurkic. One of the more interesting side notes for the Hawks is how little room the deal leaves in their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which is the sort of constraint that can shape the rest of a teams offseason just as much as the headline move. [Read more 🡒]
Mouhamed Gueye Suddenly Faces A Real Hawks Rotation Threat
Mouhamed Gueye has given the Hawks something to like on the defensive end, where his length and activity have helped him carve out a place on the roster conversation. Atlanta also recently picked up his one-year team option, a sign that the organization still sees value in keeping him around, even as the bigger question remains whether his game can grow enough on the other side of the floor to make him more than a situational piece.
Now the pressure is coming from a different direction, with rookies Zuby Ejiofor and Henri Veesaar turning heads in summer league and adding more bodies to a frontcourt mix that is starting to feel crowded. For Gueye, the path forward is pretty clear: keep defending, cut down the mistakes, and show enough offensive progress to stay ahead of the newcomers, because if that part of his game stalls, Atlanta may start looking at its options sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]