Maybe it was arriving in Atlanta at 3 a.m. a few hours after beating the Boston Celtics in overtime or it was the Hawks’ confidence from defeating the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, but the New Orleans Pelicans were outplayed in the second half of Wednesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Atlanta Hawks won the second game in their six-game home stretch over the New Orleans Pelicans 94-93 Wednesday night behind a -point performance by 20-point performance and game-winning shot by Kent Bazemore.
Here are 10 observations about the win:
The game was decided in an action-packed final minute
The final minute of the Hawks’ 94-93 win was packed with action with a 2-pointer by Bazemore with 2.1 seconds left to take the lead 94-93 sealed the game.
Although Bazemore sank the shot, he said the original play was to get Ersan Ilyasova the ball in the corner for the final shot, but when Bazemore had the ball and saw the clock winding down, he took the shot and it felt good coming off his hands.
“My 3s were kind of off tonight but everywhere else I felt good,” Bazemore said. “You watch those games and the Kobe Bryants and Kevin Durants of the world and Michael Jordans and those guys and they get the ball and get to their favorite move and I just tried to do that.”
The Pelicans attempted to inbound the ball with one-second remaining in the game, but failed to score, losing the game.
Bazemore finished Wednesday with a team-high of 20 points.
“Baze made a hell of a shot and that’s what it takes in our league,” Hawk coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Sometime you have to get a little bit lucky.”
Hawks have five-straight wins when limiting opponents to under 100 points.
The Pelicans had a one-point lead after DeMarcus Cousins was fouled by John Collins with 13 seconds left in the game. Cousins hit 1-of-2 free throws to take the lead for the Pelicans 93-92, but missed his second attempt which was rebounded by Dennis Schroder, who finished with a team-high of 15 assists, as the Hawks took a timeout.
A 3-pointer by Ilyasova tied the game at 92 with 1:11 remaining in the game left.
Hawks erased deficit in third quarter
After trailing by as much as 19 in the first half, the Hawks went on 17-3 run in third to come within three points of the Pelicans.
Throughout the run, the small crowd inside Philips Arena could feel the momentum shift toward the Hawks as Atlanta’s defense turned up the aggression, only allowing the Pelicans 10 third-quarter points, which Budenholtzer said changed the game.
A 3-pointer by Taurean Prince with 1:04 remaining in the third quarter tied the game at 70 points apiece.
By the end of the third, the Hawks took the lead 71-70 thanks to a free-throw by Malcolm Delaney.
Anthony Davis limited to eight points
Anthony Davis was coming off a 45-point, 16 rebound performance against the Boston Celtics, but was held to eight points when the faced the Hawks on Wednesday.
Davis entered Wednesday’s game leading the Pelicans with 27.2 points per game and averaged 10.6 rebounds.
“We threw the kitchen sink at him,” Budenholtzer said. “Everybody was attacking him, everybody was being aggressive trying to limit his shots, just trying to make him uncomfortable all night... We felt like we were doing a good job on Davis (in the first half) and we felt like if we could do it for another 24 minutes, the shooting percentages would fly up and some of their role players couldn’t be able to maintain for 48 minutes.”
Davis only scored three points in the first half, but he finally seemed to come alive when he dunked over Collins near the end of the fourth quarter.
If Davis had another 45-point, 15-rebound game, he would have joined Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only players to have streaks of at least three-straight games.
“I think everybody tonight, especially the big guys, made a great defense on him... I think everybody was a little tired from yesterday’s game,” Marco Belinelli said. “He’s coming from two 45-point games so it’s not easy every time in this league to score a lot of points.”
Pelicans had four players shoot in double-figures
Jrue Holiday led the Pelicans with 22 points, 19 which came in the first half. Demarcus Cousins finished with 19 and Darius Miller with 17, 12 points from the first half.
Cousins, who totaled 14 rebounds, averaged 25.4 points entering Wednesday and lead the Pelicans with 12.7 rebounds per game. Cousins was by far the most difficult player on the court for the Hawks offensively and defensively with his pressure in the paint.
The Pelicans’ struggle keeping up the scoring from the first half into the second half could be attributed to playing a game 24 hours prior and an early morning arrival in Atlanta.
“No doubt this was not their ideal circumstance to come in and play a game... It felt like we were the team on the back-to-back in the first half,” Budenholtzer said.
Plumlee showed strength at center
To start each half, Plumlee was the perfect center for the Hawks.
The six-year veteran out of Duke was quick to grab both offensive and defensive rebounds as the first and second halves began, but as time went on in the game, he struggled to keep up the same efficiency as Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins.
Plumlee finished the game with a team-high of eight rebounds and one block. Dewayne Dedmon led the Hawks with 10 rebounds.
In addition to his pressure on Cousins, Plumlee even did his best Collins impression and dunked off an assist by Schroder in the third quarter.
There was lots of frustration over the personal fouls called
It seemed every minute or so, another player had a personal foul called on them.
The Hawks finished the game with 22 team fouls and the Pelicans had 20.
Dedmon fouled out with 4:48 remaining in the game which spawned a heated confrontation from Budenholzer.
Budenholzer and Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry both complained several times to the officials during the game.
Players discussed a few of the calls with officials, but no interaction was ever heated.
This game filled with personal fouls occurred as several NBA players across the league have complained about poor officiating and relationship with officials.
Surprise! John Collins had an awesome dunk
Here’s the obligatory bullet about one of Collins’ amazing dunks.
Out of three dunks in the second quarter, this one got the biggest crowd response from the estimated 1,500 fans in attendance.
After the Hawks inbounded the ball, Schroder passed the ball to Collins for a monster dunk.
Collins finished Wednesday’s game with 18 points, second only to Schroder, and five rebounds.
Hawks scored 14 off turnovers
The Hawks entered Wednesday’s game first in the NBA in causing turnovers (15.7 per game) and forced 14 Pelican turnovers in the Hawks’ win.
The Hawks were able to score 14 points off the Pelicans turnovers, while Pelicans scored 13 off the Hawks’ 11 turnovers.
The Pelicans entered Wednesday averaging 15.1 rebounds per game, ranking 25th in the league.
Hawks struggled to score in the second quarter
The Hawks only scored 19 points in the second quarter of Wednesday's win over the Pelicans compared to the 28 scored by New Orleans.
Hawks scored one-point until 7:05 left in the first half when Bazemore hit a 3-point play off a foul by Cousins. Bazemore scored again 30 seconds later to score five of the Hawks quarter points.
Budenholzer said despite the win, the Hawks did not shoot the ball well in the first half. Atlanta shot 34 percent from the field and 17.4 beyond the arch in the first half compared to New Orleans who shot 57.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent beyond the arc.
“It felt like we were the team on the back-to-back in the first half,” Budenholzer said.
Thanks for three monster dunks and four free throws, Collins accounted for 10 of the Hawks’ 19 points in the second quarter.
Hawks started the game on a 10-3 run, followed by 12-0 Pelicans run
If only the Hawks demonstrated the speed and clear communication of the opening minutes of Wednesday’s game for the whole 48 minutes.
With help under the basket on offense from the 6-foot-11 Miles Plumlee who recorded three key rebounds in the first three minutes, the Hawks went on a 10-3 run to start the first quarter. Ilyasova scored the first five points of the game with three by Schroder and two by Bazemore.
The run was short-lived. The Pelicans responded with a 12-0 run before Budenholzer called the first timeout of the game.
The first quarter ended with the Pelicans leading, 32-25.
Next up: The Hawks host the Chicago Bulls Saturday at 5 p.m. at Philips Arena.
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