Dyson Daniels thinks Atlanta can win without big plays

ATLANTA, Georgia – The Atlanta Hawks came in on sunday trying to shake it off a nasty loss to the Detroit Pistons two days before. It can be said that they are able to do sobeating the Philadelphia 76ers 120-117. It was a game where everyone, down to the 10th player, pitched in to win.

For the past few weeks, Jaylen Johnson and Nikhil Alexander-Walker have provided the bulk of the scoring for the Hawks, but on this particular night, neither of them could do it. Although Johnson finished with his fourth straight triple-doublehe shot 5-for-17 from the field. As for Alexander-Walker, he finished with 12 points, shooting 3-for-18 from the field.

That means other players had to fill in where they fit in, and they did. Dyson Daniels led the Hawks with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Onyeka Okongwu finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Whit Krejci heated up from three and finished with 19 points, while Zachary Rizacher stepped into the grove and finished with 15 points.

“We have a really deep team,” Daniels said after the game. “Whether Jalen’s shot isn’t falling or Nikhil’s shot isn’t falling, they’re still there to help. Whitt was huge off the bench for us again, Asa came in and played some good minutes. Everybody really stepped up and did their part today. We’re not relying on people to have big games for us to win, and that’s about our guys winning, and that’s about our team. We’ve been doing that this year, which is good.”

That’s something the Hawks have relied on a lot this season, and they need a collective group effort to win instead of just one guy carrying the load. Even when guys don’t have big games,

“This game embodies the way we should play,” Quin Snyder said. “Whether Deason or Jalen played defensively, which I like to talk about because you guys always like to talk about his triple-doubles. But we need him on both ends of the floor. He came up and got a big block, got some good rebounds, and everybody did their part.

“Dyson continues to get into the paint and even Nikhil. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but he impacted the game in a lot of ways and hit some big free throws late.”

Hawks get clutch win against 76ers

It was a tight game late in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks were able to hold onto the lead throughout. One thing that has helped them late and throughout the game is rebounding, which has been their Achilles’ heel all season.

“Rebounding is a big emphasis for us,” Daniels said. “We’ve been dominant on that end of the floor basically all year, so going into the Detroit game we felt like we were pushed a little bit. We wanted to come out and be the aggressor, be physical, get shots and rebound the ball. Teams are really starting to collide with us. We know if we’re going to be a good defensive team, we’ve got to defend.”

While Daniels lived in the paint with his floaters and layups, Okongwu did most of his work on the perimeter, where he knocked down five of his 10 3-pointers.

“It’s about confidence, but whether you’re competing or not, believe in the work,” Okongwu said. “Shoot it anyway. I work so hard just to not shoot the ball, so no matter what, if I feel it going in, it goes up.”

It was a big win for the Hawks, and hopefully things will get better for them. It’s possible, especially with Trae Young returning to practice this week.