Postgame Thoughts: Hawks at Bobcats
A few thoughts after the Hawks’ impressive 101-91 road win over the surprisingly feisty Bobcats…
– On a night featuring several excellent performances up and down the roster, special mention goes to Al Horford for his huge 26 point, 13 rebound, 3 block night. Horford did it early and late, scoring 14 points in the first quarter and scoring two baskets in the final minute to seal the victory. After Wednesday night’s 1-10 FT performance, you knew Al was going to come back strong, and he certainly did.
– I just looked at the box score and my jaw dropped when I saw that Zaza Pachulia played only 13:41 tonight. He certainly made the most of his time, scoring 9 points and grabbing 7 boards, and generally having a positive impact on the game on nearly every possession. Particularly impressive was his nearly coast-to-coast finger roll right before the 3rd quarter buzzer. That’s about as graceful as Zaza gets right there.
– Jeff Teague. I’m going to start running out of superlatives soon for how this guy is playing this season. Teague had a double-double with 13 points and 12 dimes, and continues to make me think that he could have a real argument for a spot on the All-Star team if he keeps trending this way.
– Speaking of Teague, I know there is grumbling on Twitter about his lack of playing time at times, but I think it’s worth mentioning that the Hawks’ depth allows coach Larry Drew to limit minutes without sacrificing performance.
– Fresh off his game-winner over the Wizards, Kyle Korver maintained his hot shooting with 16 points including 4-6 from distance.
– Speaking of 3-pointers, the Hawks hit a season-high 11 (on 22 attempts, for a nice .500 percentage).
– Speaking of season highs, the Hawks blocked 15 shots, which is not only a season high, but is something Atlanta hasn’t done since February of 2000!
Really a nice win for the Hawks, as Charlotte has proven to be miles ahead of last season and put up a very impressive resistance.
The Hawks go for their fifth straight tomorrow night when they host the Clippers at Philips Arena. Pretty sure you don’t want to miss that.