By: Matthew Weatherby
The Atlanta Hawks finished off their west coast road trip in style this past weekend. Beating the Utah Jazz 132-122 on Friday night and on Sunday beating the Phoenix Suns 124-122 after needing a rally to come back from down 22.
The Hawks continued their run of success after the loss of Trae Young earlier this year. Atlanta continues to see flashes from their young core. The two stars of the weekend were Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson.
Atlanta’s Young Guns Lead the Way
Jalen Johnson’s play since Trae Young’s absence should give Atlanta hope for their team in the short term while Young continues to recover. But it signals that the Hawks have some key pieces beginning to show their development and give Atlanta a much more complete roster.
Onyeka Okongwu is beginning to show the same signs as Johnson. The #6 pick in 2020 has begun to pick it up in his 6th year in the league. He has scored 21+ in his last three games. Over those three games, Okongwu is shooting 65% from the field and 50% from three-point range, while also providing consistent defense, accumulating 5 blocks and 5 steals.
Okongwu was key in both of Atlanta’s wins. He totaled 32 points and collected 11 rebounds on Friday versus the Jazz to secure his 4th double-double of the year. He also scored 27 in the Hawks’ comeback win against the Suns on Sunday. A great weekend from the forward, but not to be outdone by Jalen Johnson, who had a career night against the Jazz on Friday, coming up three steals short of a quadruple-double. The 5th year man out of Duke put up 31 pts., 18 reb., 14 ast. and 7 stls. on Friday. He then backed it up with his 46th career double-double against the Suns, putting up 25/10/7.
Up Next
The Hawks, now 9-5 on the year, travel to Detroit to take on the 12-2 Pistons tonight. Detroit is favored by 1.5 points, but according to ESPN analytics, they say the Hawks have a 59.3% chance to win tonight.
Detroit is a bit of a different test for Atlanta; they are, by record, the second-best team the Hawks will have played this season. The Pistons are led by Cade Cunningham, who is averaging 27.5 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per game. Atlanta is going to need the versions of Johnson and Okongwu they got over the weekend if they want to be winners in Detroit.
