Atlanta Hawks Start Five-Game Homestand With 41-point Win Over Charlotte

After three straight games of being a big underdog, the Atlanta Hawks got to experience being the big favorite tonight vs the Hornets. It was a nice return trip for the Hawks back to State Farm Arena after being on the road for five games and yes it was against a very shorthanded and very bad Charlotte team, but the Hawks got a much needed comfortable win tonight.

The number of players missing in this game for both teams was staggering. Atlanta came into tonight's game missing Trae Young, Saddiq Bey, Kobe Bufkin, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu. Charlotte was missing star point guard LaMelo Ball and starting center Mark Williams has still not returned to the team yet. Atlanta came in as an 8.5-point favorite but considering the players they were missing as well as the fact they have not played well against the Hornets in recent years, there were scenarios you could see where the Hornets won. With Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller against the porous Hawks defense, Charlotte had a chance.

Atlanta did not give them that chance tonight though.

The Hawks used a dominant second quarter to pull in front of Charlotte and then they kept piling on afterward for one of their most lopsided wins of the year. Charlotte had their biggest win of the year in their last meeting and the Hawks returned the favor tonight.

The starters for this game for the Hawks were Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krejci, De'Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela.

Charlotte started Vasilije Mijic, Tre Mann, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Nick Richards.

The Hawks defense is prone to give up tons of points to anyone and Charlotte had two guys in MIller and Bridges that could rack up points in a hurry. That is how the game unfolded in the first quarter, with Bridges scoring 12 poitnts and Charlotte shooting 61% from the field and 40% from three.

Lucky for the Hawks, their offense came out shooting the ball well too, and was able to keep up with the Hornets.

Bogdanovic led the way with seven points and the Hawks's supporting cast and bench players were starting off well. Garrison Matthews and Bruno Fernando had six points each. Dylan Windler saw action tonight along with Wesley Matthews and Trent Forrest. Windler had not seen a lot of game time since signing a two-way contract but he hit a three in the first half. Charlotte started off hot, but it was the Hawks who led 30-28 after the first quarter.

Then the Hawks went on their biggest run of the game and sealed the win.

The second quarter was a complete beatdown in favor of Atlanta. It was not just one guy for the Hawks either. Bruno Fernando and Murray had seven points, Capela had six, and Hunter had 12. Atlanta shot 48% from the field and 36% from three and outscored the Hornets 36-20. Charlotte shot 2-11 from three and Bridges only had three points in the quarter. The Hawks led 66-48 at the half and they only expanded the lead from there.

The two players who deserve a ton of credit tonight are Garrison Matthews and Bruno Fernando. They both played their best games of the season tonight and a problem for the Hawks has been that they are not getting enough from their bench aside from Hunter. Matthews scored 20 points tonight and Bruno had a new career high with 25 points.

The second half saw the Hawks clamp down and win the game by 41 points, 132-91. It was a dominant performance after the first quarter and while it might be against the Hornets, the Hawks had several players out and should feel good about this effort ahead of a matchup with the Boston Celtics, who are playing at a historically high level right now heading into Monday's game.

Murray led the Hawks with 28 points on 10-14 shooting, but his performance went overlooked because the Hawks did not need him to score a lot of points tonight to win, unlike most games without Trae Young. Atlanta shot 56% from the field and 48% from three.

Bridges scored 27 points for the Hornets, but they could not get anything from anyone else. The Hornets shot 42% from the field and 28% from three.

Two big areas where the Hawks had an advangtage was in the paint and on the bench. Atlanta had 56 points in the paint compared to Charlotte's 36 and Atlanta's bench outscored the Hornets bench 60-22.

The Hawks are 31-39 now and with the Net's loss today, they have strengthened their hold on the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is back on the court Monday night vs Boston.