The Hawks rally from a 16-point deficit to win in overtime.
The Atlanta Hawks moved to 3-0 at Las Vegas Summer League as they prevailed in overtime to take a 111-108 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday afternoon. Kobe Bufkin scored 25 points, with Jack McVeigh adding 21 points off the Atlanta bench. For the Rockets, Adonis Arms scored 24 points and Kennedy Chandler added 22 points.
Normally, I wouldn’t spend a ton of time talking about the game itself as wins/losses aren’t especially important in Summer League compared to the regular season, but the tight game in this spot allows a different kind of spotlight for players to perform under in the clutch with the game on the line, so let’s have a look at who stepped up when there was a game to be won.
Clutch time
The Hawks had trailed by as many as 16 points in the third quarter but signs of life led by Kobe Bufkin brought the lead down as the second half progressed. With 2:03 remaining, the Rockets held a three-point advantage. Both teams would miss opportunities to extend/reduce the lead, but it was the Hawks and Asa Newell who would finally make their move, with Newell hitting a three after claiming an offensive rebound before relocating to the corner, where he’d receive the ball and hit the three:
A few aspects to like from Newell here — when he receives the ball from Bufkin he immediately shifts to the corner to Adam Flagler, highlighting a sense of surrounding. Next, he obviously claims the offensive rebound, and then moves to open an opportunity for himself, before hitting a contested three.
Flagler would make up for his miss by helping create a turnover underneath the Hawks’ basket, and Newell is found ahead in transition, where he steps through nicely and is able to finish over the defense:
The Hawks immediately lose this momentum as Arms makes a three to give the Rockets a 102-101 lead, before a turnover from McVeigh returns the ball to the Rockets. The Hawks foul Arms, sending him to the line where he extends the lead to 104-101 with 16 seconds remaining.
The Hawks need a three and with the shotclock off it’s now or never, and the Hawks earn themselves the chance to tie the game as Nikola Djurisic is fouled on a three-pointer:
Djurisic dispatches all three free throws to tie the game, and he’d be play a pivotal role defensively out of the timeout as he shows off the ball to prevent the pass to Arms — who had got ahead of his man — and then switches back to Chris Ledlum to contest his three, which is missed:
With just two minutes in overtime in Summer League, there was pressure to pull the first punch and — after Newell wins the jump-ball to give the Hawks the first possession — Bufkin gets the Hawks on the board with a tough leaning shot:
Very tough basket from Bufkin here, this was a very difficult shot.
The Rockets would level the score before Newell would edge the Hawks back in front with two free throws, drawing a foul on the attempt inside:
Good tenacity from Newell, but he can probably consider himself fortunate he wasn’t called for a push-off on the screen — a surprise that this didn’t end up accounting for what would have been a 59th foul in the game…
More fouls and more free throws give the Rockets the opportunity to tie the game again, before more free throws give the Hawks the chance to re-take the lead, with Bufkin splitting the pair to give the Hawks a one-point lead. The Rockets themselves would go back to the line but would miss both free throws, and now, with the shot clock off, the game is tipped in the Hawks’ favor. Bufkin would go back to the line after a strange violation where the inbounds pass ended up in the basket to give the Hawks a three-point lead, and the Rockets’ final attempt from Arms is missed, securing victory for the Hawks.
Led by Bufkin with great contributions from Newell and Djurisic in key moments, it was an encouraging clutch/overtime period from the Hawks’ contracted players/rookies.
Hawks Summer League head coach Bryan Bailey praised the resilience of his side in overcoming their deficit.
“We found a way,” said Bailey postgame. “We were down 15 in the third with five minutes or so to go, and we didn’t wilt, we didn’t fold. We found a way to get it done.”
Asa Newell had a quieter game overall on Monday: 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting, 1-of-4 from three, 5-of-8 from the line to go with three rebounds, but he did step up in the fourth quarter to make some plays including that three-pointer.
“It’s great for him,” said Bailey when asked of Newell getting to see late game situations. “In practise we try to throw different end of game situations as much as possible and now we get a real, live setting. He’s asking questions, he’s learning, and he’s getting better at it.”
Bufkin bounces back
After a horror show performance on Sunday, Bufkin had a much better time of shooting the ball on Monday, scoring 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 4-of-8 from three, and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
Up to the third quarter, it had been a so-so game for Bufkin. While he hadn’t suffered the same shooting struggles up to the third quarter, it had been a messy game for Bufkin whose game up to this point had been marked by fouls and turnovers (six). But in the third quarter Bufkin found his shot, scoring 11 points on 4-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three.
For the most part, the threes that Bufkin took on Sunday were fine shots, open shots that just didn’t fall. In the third quarter these shots began to drop, such as this three where the Hawks move the ball and Bufkin hits the catch-and-shoot three:
Here, Bufkin relocates multiple times to set up a better looking three for himself, and is eventually found for another three:
Off the dribble this time, Bufkin looks for an avenue inside the paint and ends up working himself into an opportunity for a pull-up three which he dispatches:
With those shots outside the arc falling, Bufkin combined this by attempting better shots inside arc. While nine turnovers for three assists isn’t ideal, Bufkin turned his shooting fortunes around in the second half, and made key plays and free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“It felt good, still had too many turnovers but other than that, down the stretch, I felt like I found it (my shot) and we were able to be successful,” said Bufkin. “I’m glad we were able to go on a run, take it to overtime and close it out in overtime.”
Despite a difficult game on Sunday, Bailey praised Bufkin for being able to influence the game with his passing, and praised his defense on Monday.
“He had a poor shooting night yesterday but he did have nine assists, so he found other ways to impact the game,” said Bailey of Bufkin. “Getting up and down, getting our guys going and obviously he made shots when we went on that run but he was also defending.”
A much better outing for Bufkin, who can now rest after heavy usage and three games in four days — encouraging to see his efficiency return to him on the third game in four days, massively helped by much better shot selection.
Another productive showing for Djurisic
Nikola Djurisic enjoyed another solid outing at Summer League, scoring 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, 5-of-6 from the free throw line, and seven assists.
Again, Djurisic just looked very measured and in control on the court and his offense felt as though just came naturally to him, as it does on this possession where he comes off the screen and pulls up on a dime to get to his mid-range jumper:
Here, Djurisic makes the cut to get behind the defense, receives the ball, and hits a turnaround shot:
Djurisic has this knack for being able to hang on his shots, as he shows again on this possession as he drives inside, hangs inside as he gets to his runner, draws the foul and finishes the play for the ‘and-1’:
Another mature play from Djurisic offensively as he receives the ball close to the rim and the defense. Djurisic hits his defender with the fake and then another turnaround jumper which he hits:
Finally, Djurisic shows some of his rarely shown burst as he explodes off the dribble to get to the rim and finish with an emphatic dunk:
“It feels great to get my hops back a bit,” said Djurisic of the dunk.
Just a smooth 16 points for Djurisic, who is at his best when he lets the game come to him like this and doesn’t force the issue.
“He’s playing confidently, which is a good thing,” said Bailey of Djurisic. “He’s free, he’s playing confidently, and one thing he does is get in the lane. When he gets in the lane, he’s a good passer and he’s shown that the last couple of games.”
A seasoned scorer in Europe prior to coming over, settings like Summer League would come a bit more natural to him — not just in terms of competition but maturity in offense; to know when to get to the rim and when to hit a turnaround jumpshot.
“I’ve been doing that my whole life honestly in the paint finishing,” said Djurisic of getting into the lane. “Back home in Europe I was able to jump over guys, but over here it’s a different story. They’re more athletic than me, bigger, taller, so sometimes I can’t finish over them. Sometimes I will stop and pass, and some days I cannot stop because I’m going too fast, and I’ll have a turnover!”
“It’s the same as my driving,” added Djurisic when asked of his turnaround shot. “As soon as you start playing basketball I did that move; it’s my best shot. When I shoot it and make it, it feels better than when I make a three. Not a lot of coaches like that shot but when it goes in it’s good!”
McVeigh and Johnson impress off bench, Toppin’s injury
Two players who perhaps aren’t part of the Hawks’ longer term future but enjoyed strong performances were Jack McVeigh and Javan Johnson. McVeigh scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from three. McVeigh is a little on the older side, 29 years old, and has experience playing professionally in Australia’s highly competitive NBL, and was a two-way player for the Rockets last season, and his experience/talent level really shows here at Summer League. He’s had some hot shooting stretches, but there’s been a couple of occasions in these games where the Hawks need a bucket late in the clock — or in general — and McVeigh is able to find a shot in his arsenal to get the Hawks on the board.
“We call it a little revenge game against his old team!” said Bailey of McVeigh. “Jack’s been great, he’s always high energy. He comes in every day with a smile on his face and gets the guys going, gets the coaching staff going. We got to come in with more energy, we can’t let him out-energy us! He’s been great.”
Last game I was impressed with Kobe Johnson and while I was hoping to see more today, it was a different Johnson who stepped up and made some impressive plays in the second half: Javan Johnson. Johnson finished with eight points but made an impact with two three-pointers and two blocks on the game, one of which he rotates as the help defender to step up and anticipate the shot in the lane and he blocks the shot:
Johnson then followed this up with this sequence in the fourth, beginning with a runaway dunk after the pitch-ahead before blocking the Rockets’ next possession out of bounds:
Jacob Toppin was also having a strong game in the first half — he had already notched 12 points before sustaining a left hip injury that would sideline him for the remainder of the game. A shame for Toppin, I think he could’ve definitely been another player who scored 20 or more points in this game with how he was playing.
Overall, the Hawks’ both team and individual performances recovered well in the third and fourth quarters and it was encouraging to see their response to the deficit, and their execution in the fourth quarter and overtime, especially from players like Bufkin, Newell, and Djurisic.
The Hawks (3-0) are now off until Thursday when they will take on the Memphis Grizzlies (currently 1-1, playing on Tuesday against Golden State).
Until next time!