Clutch win.
The Atlanta Hawks battled the Memphis Grizzlies in their first matchup in March.
The Hawks have dominated the last four meetings at the FedExForum, winning three of the last four while scoring 114.0 points a game compared to 108 for the Grizzlies.
The Hawks continued their dominance Monday night as they defeated the Grizzlies 132-130 thanks to a buzzer-beater by Caris LeVert.
“They are tough. (Desmond) Bane puts so much pressure on you in varies ways to get advantages, and then those other guys are tough. To a man they really drives the ball with force. Even if they score, they are cutting to give them an opportunity to score. I thought the story of the game was the last five minutes defensively. We were able to get some stops when we needed. We’ve talked about these momentum swings at the 5-minute mark. For our guys to finish the way we did was really good,” said head coach Quin Snyder.
The Grizzlies average almost 16 turnovers per game and the Hawks were able to take advantage of that for the entire game. They finished the game with 20 turnovers.
For Memphis, Jaren Jackson exited the game in first quarter, and they were without their primary ball handler Ja Morant for the game.
Trae Young, in the month of February in 12 games, averaged 28.3 points per game along with 11.6 assists per fame on 42% shooting and 88% on his free throws.
Unfortunately, Young received another technical foul in the game — his 11th one this season — and now he is five away from a one-game suspension. Young finished with 12 points and 15 assist.
Onyeka Okongwu averaged of 15.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in 12 games last month. He finshed with another double-double as he had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Lastly, Zaccharie Risacher averaged 12.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest this month in 12 games as well.
The Hawks lead 70-65 in the first half largely because Risacher had a strong first half with 14 points and 6-of-7 shooting from the field. He got a a couple of 3-pointers and some easy points in transition to gain confidence early in the game. He ended the night with 27 points.
Garrison Mathews was huge off the bench in the first half with eight points from the bench in his first action in almost a month.
Dyson Daniels also had 12 points in the first half. Daniels stepped up early for the Hawks offensively, as he attacked the rim frequently to keep the game close for the Hawks.
The Hawks were able to use their defense and get out for easy baskets for fast breaks points to control the tempo. Terance Mann started the second half for the Hawks replacing Dominick Barlow to give the team an edge in the second half.
LeVert scored a team high 25 points and the game winner to give the Hawks the win. It was an important win for the Hawks as they make strides for the final playoff push.