The Atlanta Hawks didn’t just beat the Charlotte Hornets - they controlled the game from the opening quarter and never let it breathe. By halftime, Atlanta had stretched the margin to 25, and after three quarters it was 35. That kind of cushion leaves little doubt, and this one was over long before the final buzzer.
Even with Charlotte missing both Coby White and Kon Knueppel, the Hornets never found a foothold. Atlanta’s defense set the tone early and kept pressing, which was a major part of the story after an offseason built around becoming deeper, tougher, and more physical. The Hawks wanted a clearer defensive identity after getting run off the floor in game six of their first round series loss to the Knicks, and after an up and down performance vs Orlando, they showed exactly what that can look like when it clicks.
The numbers tell the story cleanly. Atlanta forced 25 turnovers while committing only 12 of its own.
That gap kept Charlotte pinned down and never allowed the Hornets to build any momentum. The Hawks were active, disruptive, and relentless, especially against a team that had already shown a tendency to give the ball away after coughing it up 20 times in its season opening win over Brooklyn.
Dyson Daniels was right at the center of that pressure. He finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and seven steals, and his fingerprints were all over the game.
Daniels’ ballhawk instincts have already made him one of the league’s most disruptive perimeter defenders, and this was another reminder of why he finished second in defensive player of the year voting two seasons ago. He hit 5-for-10 from the field and didn’t have any pressure from beyond the arc.
Aaron Wiggins kept building on what he started Wednesday against Orlando. After a strong debut, he was even better against Charlotte, matching CJ McCollum for the game high with 19 points.
Wiggins shot 7-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three, while also giving Atlanta useful work on defense. He has quickly become one of the most impressive bench players in the NBA through the early part of the season.
Kingston Flemings didn’t lead the scoring charge, but he kept making plays in the role Atlanta needs from him. He finished with five points, six rebounds, eight assists, and one steal, and he handled the game with real composure.
Flemings defended well, moved the ball cleanly, and kept finding open teammates for easy baskets. The shot-making will come later; the rest is already showing up.
Corey Kispert also made his limited minutes count. He remains outside the Hawks’ main nine-man rotation, largely because of his defense, but his shooting gives him a clear way to contribute when called on.
In nine minutes, Kispert put up 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting and 3-for4 from three. With the game already out of hand and Charlotte’s deep reserves on the floor, he took advantage of the opportunity.
In Other News...
Dyson Daniels Is Giving Hawks Fans A New Reason To Believe
Dyson Daniels kept setting the tone on the defensive end in Atlantas 128-81 rout of the Hornets, and the Hawks have to like how quickly he is becoming part of what they want to be. The guard filled up the box score with activity, piling up steals, rebounds and assists while helping fuel a lopsided win that pushed Atlanta to a 2-0 start and gave the early season plenty of reason for optimism.
The larger question around Daniels still lingers, though, because the offseason work on his shooting has not shown up in the way he or the Hawks likely hoped. Even with his defensive impact already swinging games, the next step in his development remains an open thread, and Atlanta will keep watching to see when that side of his game starts to follow the same upward trajectory. [Read more 🡒]
Dyson Daniels Is Giving The Hawks A Defensive Edge Few Teams Can Handle
Dyson Daniels has already become part of the early-season conversation in Atlanta because of how much ground he covers on the defensive end. Through the first two games, he has been everywhere for the Hawks, helping shape wins over the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets while also chipping in enough on offense to keep his impact from feeling one-dimensional.
What stands out most is the way Daniels keeps turning live-ball chances into momentum for Atlanta. He made a habit of jumping passing lanes and forcing mistakes against Charlotte in particular, and his comments afterward reflected how alert he was to the defensive openings in front of him. For a Hawks team trying to establish an edge, that kind of disruptive presence can change the tone of a game fast. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Get An Early Identity Test With 3-0 On The Line
The early-season pulse check gets a little sharper for Atlanta with Houston coming in as the kind of opponent that can expose soft spots. The Hawks have a chance to move to 3-0, but the Rockets bring a defensive edge that should make this more than a routine tune-up, especially for a team still trying to define what its identity looks like on both ends.
Jalen Johnson is part of the conversation because matchups like this tend to show where Atlanta is comfortable and where it still has work to do. Houstons physical style, particularly around the paint and the boards, figures to put the Hawks under a harder kind of pressure than they have seen so far, and this game should tell a lot about how ready they are to answer it. [Read more 🡒]