Dyson Daniels reveals the ‘pick’ that caused the upset against the Nets

ATLANTA – Atlanta The Hawks know they have a good opportunity before them with a long home. And not only that, those games come against teams that haven’t played very well this season. The Brooklyn Nets were on their schedule today, and while some would have thought it would be a cakewalk for the Hawks, it turned out to be a three-quarter battle.

The fight became less in the first half of the fourth quarter, where the Nets went up by 11 points and the Hawks had no answer for anything they did. Fortunately, there was a turnaround, and the Hawks woke up with less than six minutes left in the game.

The Hawks finished the game with a 24-2 run, and then fell by 11 points at one point in the fourth, they walked away with a 115-104 win over the Nets.

“We increased our aggression in the last six minutes,” Dyson Daniels he said. “We didn’t have a choice, we were down 11, we had to change something. Everybody changed it. We were more physical on the ball; we were able to make turnovers, stop, get out and run. We have to be better early in the game if we want to beat good teams and give ourselves a chance this year.”

Daniels had three steals in the fourth, one of which came by guarding the inbounds and catching the ball in the air.

“He kind of threw low,” Daniels said. “I knew he had the ball for three or four seconds, so he was going to come soon, and I just timed the jump.”

Defense was clearly key for the Hawks to help them make a late comeback, and it started with the guards and ran through the entire team.

“Collectively, we did a good job of stopping them,” Jaylen Johnson said. “Nickel (Alexander-Walker) and Dyson set the tone with that, and the rest of the guys followed the lead. Dyson got a couple of steals, and that changed the momentum.”

“Defense wins games,” Jock Landale said. “I think we did a good job of that in the fourth quarter. CJ turned it on and made some big shots. (Jalen) got a good sense of where he wanted the ball and got to his spots. It was a mature play for that.”

As important as the defense was, the Hawks had to come back and score at the other end. It was Johnson who led the way in that category, as he scored 14 points in the fourth and ended up sealing the game with several key baskets. CJ McCollum, who moved into the starting lineup, he also hit a big 3-pointer to give the Hawks a late-game lead.

From there, the Hawks never looked back, and were able to cruise to victory as they continued their streak.