Peachtree Hoops: Hawks lifted by bench, Fernando career-night in victory over Hornets

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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

A 41-point margin of victory for the hosts on their return home.

The Atlanta Hawks returned to State Farm Arena after a five-game Western Conference road trip that ended 1-4. With the return home came a return to winning ways as the Hawks flattened the Charlotte Hornets 132-91 on Saturday night at State Farm Arena.

Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 28 points and 12 assists, while Bruno Fernando added a career-best 25 points off the bench. For the Hornets, Miles Bridges led with 27 points. Brandon Miller added 13 points.

Both sides came into this fixture rampant with injuries. For the Hornets, they were without LaMelo Ball, Seth Curry, Cody Martin and Mark Williams. The Hawks, meanwhile, were without Trae Young, Onyeka Okongwu, Jalen Johnson, Saddiq Bey and Kobe Bufkin.

Despite the more notable absentees for the Hawks, the hosts were still strongly favored heading into this contest, however, the first quarter was a close affair as the Hawks took a two point lead into the second quarter. The game was tied at 39 apiece during the second quarter, but the Hawks went on a 23-4 run to blow this game apart as they established a 10-point lead and then a 20-point lead before the end of the second quarter.

The bench gave the Hawks a great lift in the first half, and they deserve a lot of credit for their contributions — specifically Bruno Fernando, Garrison Mathews, and Trent Forrest.

Starting with Mathews, he came into the game and injected the outside shooting the Hawks always require of him, but more than that last night he was aggressive and looking for opportunities inside the arc.

Here, Mathews comes off the Clint Capela screen, gets downhill and goes to his runner and hits:

Mathews also found himself at the free throw line on a few occasions, and not for being fouled on a jumpshot as he drives into the paint from the three-point, attacks the rim and draws the foul from Nick Richards:

Mathews finished with a season-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 from three, and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

The comments from both Hawks head coach Quin Snyder and Garrison Mathews allude to Mathews working more on this aspect of his game: attacking off of closeouts as he gains respect as an outside shooter defenses need to close in on.

“My player development guy and coach (Snyder) have been talking a lot about not just being a spot-up shooter, and put the ball on the floor more,” said Mathews postgame. “A lot of guys they’re closing out on me pretty hard, and so if I can get downhill it adds a different element of my game and be able to put the defense in a scramble.”

Snyder praised his coaching staff for the improvement the bench players have made throughout the season, including Mathews’ ability to attack the rim. While Snyder doesn’t want Mathews to stop shooting, he is pleased to see the improvements and Mathews using his outside threat to attack.

“It’s gratifying any time you see players getting better,” said Snyder of the bench. “Some of the things guys are doing on the floor, Garrison being able to attack the rim and playing off his jumpshot — I don’t want him to stop shooting because he’s pretty good at that.”

Trent Forrest didn’t have the same punchy boxscore as Mathews but still made a meaningful contribution off the bench with four points, nine assists, and two steals.

This steal in the first half was particularly impressive as Forrest pokes the ball free from Bridges, chases it down to come up with possession, and takes the ball the other way to finish at the rim:

Forrest and Fernando combined for baskets on four occasions, including this alley-oop in the second half:

Four points and nine assists with one turnover I think is reflective of the player Forrest is; he doesn’t go hunting for his own offense very often, looks to pass first and when he does is efficient with the ball. Forrest has been dependable when called upon and last night was no exception.

The star off the bench, however, was Bruno Fernando: a career-best 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting. 13 of Fernando’s 25 came in the first half in an efficient manner.

Fernando’s spin moves were working to great effect last night, he found success often with them while moving his feet well, such as this play where he spins and bodies Aleksej Pokusevski for the basket at the rim:

Guarded by the sturdier Grant Williams on this occasion, Fernando receives the shot-turned-pass from Mathews, spins, and hits the hook shot over Williams:

Fernando can lack some finesse at times, but this was not such an occasion.

In the second quarter, Fernando is a presence too strong for the Hornets to handle as he establishes position off the feed from Forrest and Fernando finishes with ease at the rim:

This next play was a really impressive basket from Fernando as he drives from the three-point line, spins, and floats his way to the basket to hit the layup over Richards, plus the foul:

However, as impressive as this play was it didn’t quite pack the same punch as this hammer from Fernando off the feed from Bogdan Bogdanovic, as Fernando thunders this dunk on Williams:

With the game a blowout in the second half, Fernando got to enjoy a bit more freedom than he would normally have as he got to attempt a three. And while it drew nothing but air, it was a feel-good moment for the Hawks as he had certainly earned himself an attempt given his efforts last night.

Fernando hasn’t always been a steady presence on the court in Okongwu’s absence but last night he was fantastic. This was, arguably, as good as he’s ever been in a Hawks uniform and it was pleasing to see him enjoy a night like this, especially given how his role was bumped dramatically in the two games Okongwu returned to action for in Los Angeles and Phoenix (Fernando going from playing double-digit minutes in every game since February 5th prior to Okongwu’s return, playing four minutes in Phoenix).

Quin Snyder was certainly pleased for Fernando and the work he’s put in this season but also praised his willingness to not just accept his role but embrace it.

“He played great,” said Snyder of Fernando. “He’s been big for us with O out and earlier with Clint out. It’s good to see someone that’s rewarded for all the work he’s put in. There was opportunities for him offensively tonight. Some of his footwork and his finishing but where he’s really been impactful for us is his defensively and he continued to do that. It’s nice when someone has been working, and the role he’s played he’s had opportunity where he’s had a really good game and O comes back and his minutes get cut down. That’s tough, especially when you’re playing well. Credit to him that he’s been able to handle that mentally and embrace that, not just accept that.”

For Fernando, his mindset doesn’t change: the objective is the same no matter the role.

“Just trying to impact the game however I can,” said Fernando of his mindset heading into the game. “Just trying to find ways to help the team. Tonight was a night where I felt like I was involved offensively but just trying to come in and do my job. Guys did a good job finding me when I was open and that’s really what it led to.”

For the game itself, the Hornets went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 10 in the third quarter but this was as close as they got as the Hawks, spearheaded by Murray’s 12 third quarter points pushed the lead back to safety, and the Hawks never looked back. Murray hit four third quarter threes and dished out four assists in the same quarter in a dominant display to push away any doubts the Hawks would allow the Hornets back in.

It was a perfect example of what Snyder outlines of Murray after the game: he picked his spot to attack, and that was the perfect time for him to do so when the Hornets made their run.

“It comes in a lot of different ways,” said Snyder of Murray’s leadership. “I think sometimes it’s more visible than other times but the way we’re playing tonight that starts with him. You even see his line with the catch-and-shoot threes, he got nine threes — a couple were off the dribble I think — but that’s him getting off and trusting other people, picking his spots to attack. The leadership on the defensive end is really important. There’s a lot of things that go into it. He’s poured himself into all of that.”

Murray finished with 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting, 7-of-9 from three, 12 assists, seven rebounds and four steals.

“Dejounte, he’s been playing great,” added Garrison Mathews. “Shot the heck out of the ball. We miss Trae, but when you have a point guard like that it makes our offense go.”

Behind Murray’s third quarter, the Hawks moved their lead to 30 points in the second half, and eventually at its highest at the end of the game with 41 points in their most dominant victory of the season against a hapless Hornets side which is beyond defeated at this point in the season with all their injuries.

A 41-point victory was one season-high the Hawks achieved in addition to 40 assists on the game, their most of the season. Snyder has discussed recently about the Hawks getting multiple looks throughout a possession and he circled back to this sentiment when asked about the Hawks’ ball-movement.

“I think it’s something for a while we’ve been talking about and working on,” said Snyder of the assists. “Getting multiple actions throughout a possession and moving the ball. I think when that happens, and there’s trust, the ball all comes back to people and we usually have some good, high percentage opportunities.”

While too much shouldn’t be drawn from this game given the opponent, it served as the perfect rebound from a disappointing road trip. There was a feel-good factor from the bench as Fernando enjoyed his career-night, as Mathews excelled, as Murray took over, as Vit Krejci hit three three-pointers, and as Wesley Matthews hit some threes.

While the celebrating that lead to some defensive lapses can be a bit of an annoyance to Snyder from a coaching perspective, he was pleased to see the team grow and for his team to support each other.

“It’s always good to see a team grow,” said Snyder. “I know the road trip, the results weren’t necessarily what you want. O comes back and he’s out, we lost Jalen, Trae’s been out, we had a lot of guys on the bench that have been working. I don’t want to celebrate too much, I’d rather go play defense. That always happens, it drives me crazy — when someone makes a big play and you celebrate and they score two points on the other end and it’s a wash. That’s just a coaching thing. But guys appreciate one another and when you’re doing that you have each other’s backs and you see that on both ends of the floor.”

All in all, a comfortable victory for the Hawks. They shot 55% from the floor, 47.6% from three as they hit and tied their season-high of 20 threes in total — led by Murray’s seven — and racked up 40 assists on their 50 made field goals while just committing eight turnovers. That in itself is hugely impressive, no matter who your opponent is.

The road trip was a rough slog, but the Hawks took care of business in the right manner and give themselves a much needed lift as they enter the home stretch of the season.

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The Hawks (31-39) are back in action on Monday night when they host the NBA-leading Boston Celtics (57-14) at State Farm Arena.

Until next time...

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