The Atlanta Hawks pulled this win off because they have the two best players in the game and the Kings don’t have anything close.
While that may sound fairly obvious, it was noticeable because there’s an argument to be made that the Hawks let their foot off the pedal for long stretches of the game and played down to their competition. The Kings made it a game despite the injuries by leaning into the drive-and-kick game, making their open threes and doing their best to keep up with the Hawks in transition. However, Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were too good.
With the game tied at 97-97, Atlanta went on a 20-6 run to take definitive control of the game behind superstar performances from their two best players. Johnson had 26 points, 10 assists and five rebounds while burying several momentum threes when the Hawks needed him most. However, NAW was more consistent from start to finish. He scored 27 points on just 14 shots, hitting 4/9 from deep and going a perfect 9-9 from the charity stripe.
Sacramento gave it their all despite the injuries and got a vintage performance from DeMar DeRozan with 22 points on 9-18 shooting and even two threes. Daeqwon Plowden, Killian Hayes and Maxime Raynaud all had good games as well in order to give the Kings some life. Ultimately, though, the NBA is defined by star power and the Hawks had more of it tonight.
Sluggish To Start