Jaylen Johnson drops the ‘snake head’ after NAV’s clutch play

ATLANTA, Ga. – It only took one move. Or maybe several.

In the second game of the consecutive, v Atlanta Hawks were back at home against the Charlotte Hornets, who were also playing back-to-back. Of course, this game would come down to the wire, and the winner in the end would be whoever wanted it more. That apparently it was Nikhil Alexander-Walker.

Down by one point with less than two minutes left, Alexander-Walker drove to the basket for a layup to give the Hawks the lead. From there it was all about the execution. The Hawks missed some shots, but they also made the Hornets miss some so they could keep the lead. With 11 seconds left, the Hawks held a two-point lead and the Hornets had a chance to tie or take the lead. On the biggest possession of the game, Kon Knuepel went to the lane and Alexander-Walker was there to yes drag the ball.

“Just playing the read, I know I had a couple of foul swipes down early, and I kind of believed it,” Alexander-Walker said after the game. “I get them more than once. I was holding on to that moment. Instinctively and reading the play.”

Alexander-Walker was fouled and went to the free throw line, splitting the two. The Hawks got another stop and were able to walk away with the win, 113-110.

“We have some elite defenders on this team,” Jalen Johnson he said. “Dison (Daniels) and Nickeil are the head of the snake on defense. Nickeil just made a big play at the end. It’s going to be hard to score on him in isolation like that. It was a big break.”

The Hawks execute a stretch for a clutch win against the Hornets

The The Hawks want their defense to make things easy for them in attack, and they did it when it was most important. They also held the Hornets to zero fast breaks, as their transition defense has been something they’ve worked on since the start of the season.

“That’s what we pride ourselves on here, our defense,” Daniels said. “We stop, get out and run, that’s the way we want to play. When we can do that, we’ll be fine on the offensive end.”

Defense definitely turned into offense in this game, and Johnson, Alexander-Walker, Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu finished with 20 plus points.

“Guys are playing with confidence and we’re giving each other confidence,” Alexander-Walker said. “We feed off of each other. It’s nice to see everyone contribute, and it’s a lot of fun. To see my teammates succeed and me to have success. It shows that you can win, play together, and it doesn’t have to be about, ‘Oh, how much do I have?’ It’s soothing in that state of mind. What that does for us is it also allows us to trust each other more.”

The ball continues to move for the Hawks on offense, and they finished another game with 30 or more assists. That’s a recipe for success for this team, and they’ve stuck to it without their biggest playmaker in Trae Young.