The Atlanta Hawks notched a second consecutive victory on their four-game Western Conference road-trip, toppling the Golden State Warriors 124-111 at Chase Center on Sunday night. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led six Hawks in double-digit scoring \u2014 and three Hawks with 20 or more points \u2014 with 24 points, Jalen Johnson added 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Luke Kennard poured out 22 points off the bench. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry scored a game-high 31 points, and Jimmy Butler III added 30 points.<\/p>\n
The Warriors were considered favorites heading into the game and ran out to a 14-4 lead in the opening stages as the Hawks\u2019 offense struggled early on. While they weren\u2019t to know at the time, but this was as almost good as it got for Golden State, as the Hawks reeled off a 7-0 run to bring the game to 14-11 by the first timeout of the game. Both teams went back and forth in the first quarter, as Curry (nine points) and Johnson (10 points) had strong first quarters for their sides.<\/p>\n
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The Warriors took an eight-point lead in the early stages of the second quarter, but the Hawks, again, responded immediately with an 11-2 run. Another seven points in the quarter for Johnson (17 in the first half), and 10 second quarter points from Alexander-Walker were key to the Hawks\u2019 strong second quarter.<\/p>\n
Especially key was Alexander-Walker\u2019s end of the second quarter to not just take the lead but build it up to six by the end of the half, the six-point margin thanks to a CJ McCollum buzzer-beater.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take long for the Hawks to take their first double-digit lead, but Golden State quickly pulled this back to two points, providing a response of their own after the Hawks\u2019 run to a double-digit lead. With over five and a half minutes left in the third, the Hawks hold a four-point lead after a Vit Krejci free throw.<\/p>\n
Kennard \u2014 who, prior to the third quarter was listed as questionable to return with a neck strain \u2014 found form from three-point range, hitting three straight threes, and it completely flipped the game on its head.<\/p>\n
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It begins with a turnover from De\u2019Anthony Melton, a good save from McCollum in the corner, and Johnson finds Kennard in the corner for the three:<\/p>\n
View Link<\/a><\/p>\n After a Warriors 24-second shot clock violation turnover, McCollum is again involved as the pick-and-roll with Onyeka Okongwu gets McCollum a favorable switch onto Al Horford, and McCollum attacks the mismatch, collapses the defense, and sprays out to Kennard in the opposite corner for the three:<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n Another Warriors turnover \u2014 this time from the Horford entry pass, deflected by Okongwu \u2014 sets the Hawks on their way, with Alexander-Walker finding Kennard back in the corner for another three-pointer, stretching the lead to 11 points and a Golden State timeout:<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n Unlike the previous instance of the Hawks building a double-digit lead, the Hawks would never look back from this point. The Golden State timeout does nothing to stop the bleeding, and the Hawks ran the lead to 16 points by the end of the third quarter.<\/p>\n A pair of threes from Okongwu and Kennard \u2014 his fifth, and then sixth of the game \u2014 to begin the fourth quarter pushed the lead to 25 and essentially finishes the Warriors there and then. While the hosts did make a run to cut the lead to 13 points, the gap had simply ballooned too high for the Warriors to mount a full comeback, and with 3:16 remaining the Warriors wave the white flag and bring out the subs.<\/p>\n The Hawk, now winners of three straight games, have begun this four-game Western Conference trip 2-0, and have great potential to either sweep the trip or emerge 3-1 out of it \u2014 a huge bonus for them at this time of the season with everything that has recently surrounded the team.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n For the game itself, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder was asked by Lauren Williams of the AJC about limiting the Warriors NBA-leading (prior to last night\u2019s game; now overtaken by the Celtics) \u2014 15.9 three-pointers a game<\/a> \u2014 to just 10 three-pointers, and a percentage of just 23.9% (10-of-42). Snyder was pleased with how hard his side worked to help limit the Warriors\u2019 threes but essentially admitted that the Hawks were lucky to catch the Warriors on what Snyder described as an off night shooting the ball for the Warriors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe worked hard and tried to get in a situation where we could contest,\u201d said Snyder postgame. \u201cI\u2019m happy it was only 10 (threes made), but sometimes we shot the heck out of the ball and they had looks that they didn\u2019t make that they typically make. I think you can be pleased about a result but also realistic about catching a team that doesn\u2019t have a great shooting night. That said, I think we did work. We tried to make it hard and, hopefully, that had some impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Steph Curry is obviously the fulcrum behind any three-point shooting success for Golden State, and he shot an uncharacteristic 3-of-11 from three (some of these misses came in the fourth with the Warriors down 20 points, so, had a hint of desperation about them). The Hawks threw many different bodies at various times on Curry; it started with Vit Krejci (starting once again for the injured Zaccharie Risacher, absent with a left knee inflammation), then Alexander-Walker, Kennard (who did well face-guarding Curry), and Dyson Daniels among those who had turns guarding\/monitoring Curry.<\/p>\n While this first clip we\u2019re going to see is a make from Curry, the opening frame \u2014 Alexander-Walker basically glued to Curry before Curry\u2019s famous off-ball movement gives him the inch he requires \u2014 I think tells the story of how the Hawks wanted to guard Curry in this game:<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n Curry took a number of deep and contested threes, and threes where I can only presume he was searching for a call, such as this three as he operates behind the screen with Daniels right there, before getting another opportunity for three on the offensive rebound, contested by Mo Gueye:<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n They are all shots that, if taken by almost anybody else, you\u2019d call bad shots, but when it\u2019s Curry anything is possible. The Hawks, to their credit, contested Curry well on the perimeter, in this case, Alexander-Walker gets a good contest up:<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n The majority of Curry\u2019s 31 points came from inside the arc, and Curry did really well to get to 31 points with how the Hawks guarded him; face-guarding him. Curry took advantage where he could, as pressure this tight to him requires only a momentary lapse \u2014 or off-ball snafu \u2014 to escape and score.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The quick movement off the ball here allows Curry an escape from Daniels, and he finishes at the rim on the catch:<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n Again, it takes just a quick move when Curry is guarded this tightly, and the Warriors are quick to find him when he does:<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n In both of those clips, you can see how Curry shields himself from any defender behind by using his body as he finishes, it\u2019s really impressive.<\/p>\n However, Curry didn\u2019t always wriggle free on these movements, and the Hawks did a great job staying connected to him. Kennard does so on this possession, forcing the Warriors to look elsewhere for offense. While they manage to score on this possession, offense outside of Curry and Butler was just not something the Warriors could rely upon, making plays like this few and far between (only one other Warrior scored in double-digits last night):<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n This next possession gives a good insight as to the physical pressure Daniels showed Curry off the ball, and good work from Gueye too to pick up for Daniels as Curry tries to cut to the rim, the Warriors trying to use Gui Santos to find Curry on the cut, forcing instead to find Horford for a missed three:<\/p>\n View Link<\/a><\/p>\n Curry also made some really tough floaters at times in this game \u2014 the Hawks defended him well on these but shots like this are difficult to stop:<\/p>\n