Peachtree Hoops: Bench mob shows promise against Timberwolves as starters tune up for Play-In

[Hawksquawk]

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The kids are alright.

The Hawks came into this contest with their postseason fate having already been sealed. Atlanta will finish with the 10th-best record in the Eastern Conference, and they will have to travel to the 9-seed Chicago Bulls to stave off elimination next week.

For that reason (and especially following a double-overtime game against the Miami Heat this past Tuesday), Quin Snyder has opted to forgo fighting for every win. Instead, he rested his taxed starters in the fourth quarter Friday night in advance of the game on the horizon that really matters.

So while the Hawks showed a ton of fight through three quarters and change, their 109-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves — who were scrapping and clawing for the 1-seed in the Western Conference the entire way — is a positive takeaway in a season full of negatives. In fact, Atlanta needed to overcome a rough shooting first half and a second half 17-point deficit to even make it a game.

Trae Young played in his second game back from a lengthy absence, and his first with Dejounte Murray, after a ligament tear in his left pinky finger. He put together another efficient game in just 27 minutes of play: 19 points and seven assists against just two turnovers.

No doubt Trae Young can still lead fastbreaks with the best of them.

Here, Young is able to help out Murray by moving without the ball into position for a catch-and-shoot three.

Young even innovated with a runner three upon seeing Gobert in drop coverage off a screen action.

“[Trae Young] is hard to stay in front of,” said Snyder. “And so when that’s happening, he’s able to get a setup and create some space and allow our bigs to create a screen to play pick-and-roll. If he gets an advantage like that, he’s gifted at taking advantage of that. Whether it’s a floater, a lob, finding someone in the corner. I was glad to see him shoot the ball from three too when there was a screen. I think that was the right read, especially with Gobert back there. The one foot [three], he works on that.”

And despite wearing a brace on his left hand, Young still has parking lot range.

“You guys saw the game,” remarked Snyder about the guard duo’s first game together in a while. “I thought [Young and Murray] were pretty good together. We needed to be more aggressive when we did get stops. And that’s where the guards get in space and have an opportunity to really attack. There’s an acclimation process. It’s going to evolve. You can evaluate it at the end of the game. You can evaluate it at the end of the first quarter. We’re just allowing that process to take place.”

AJ Griffin has had a forgettable sophomore campaign, but he got a chance to prove he’s pushing through the setbacks he faced earlier this year. In the below clip, he demonstrated a nice rhythm pull up triple.

2023 draftees Kobe Bufkin and Mouhamed Gueye also got extended run in this one, with Gueye needed for his size against the three-headed monster of Gobert, Towns, and Naz Reid. Here, Gueye is able to slide his feet and push Reid off his spot, but is whistled for a ‘ticky-tack’ foul.

Gueye has a nice sense to wander into the lane once Bruno Fernando gets in trouble for the easy jam.

Not to be outdone, Kobe Bufkin showed some flashes as well. Here, he gets by Jaden McDaniels and freezes Rudy Gobert with a fake pass to open up the lane for the finish.

Bufkin is constantly hustling on defense as well, never afraid to put his body on the line for the common goal. Here’s an example of him doing just that.

I love this kid man. Always working pic.twitter.com/6ijWcU7UHN

— Play In SZN (@1CE_TRAE) April 13, 2024

And late in the game, Bufkin and Gueye combine to close down on Anthony Edwards and force a crucial turnover and score to cut the margin to one.

Bufkin finished with six points and three rebounds, all in the fourth quarter, and Gueye chipped in two points and five rebounds.

Ultimately the Hawks couldn’t quite claim victory. But the loss was immaterial to the standings, and so the bigger aim was getting the young players a taste of crunch time in the NBA.

“They put in the same work that we put in in practice,” said Young after the game. “And it’s paying off. Just like my rookie year, my second year. We got a lot of young guys playing a lot of minutes. It’s good experience. That’s the best teacher – experience. It’s good for all the guys. Especially all the rookies.”

Atlanta played solidly all game long, even if the scoreboard didn’t show it after the first half. They created good opportunities on offense, but were beset by 1-for-11 (9%) shooting from three and 10-for-16 (63%) shooting from the free throw line in that half leading to a nine-point deficit. But they continued to plug away — not letting the shooting discourage them — and as a result they had tied the game up by the end of the third quarter.

“We were 1-for-11 from three at halftime,” continued Snyder. “And the message is ‘keep shooting’ because we need to get more attempts. And then sometimes those things even out. And it did. We missed some free throws too. When you hang in those games, it doesn’t always happen. They came out in the third quarter and just went ‘bam, bam, bam.’ And we weren’t horrible, but we needed to be better. And our guys responded. They started missing a few and we were able to capitalize.”

This game will go down in the record books as a loss, but the promise shown from both the starters and the young bench players against such a difficult foe was a win in of itself. And in a season like this, silver linings are the best currency.

Atlanta finishes their regular season at the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

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