Dennis Schröder and his Atlanta Hawks (20-44) beat the Phoenix Suns (19-46) with 113:112 (BOXSCORE). The German sits in the crunchtime only on the bench and sees how Taurean Prince and his game winner become the man of the day.
It was the typical early match on Sunday. Both teams looked for their rhythm at the beginning and collected hard ball losses. The hosts did a little bit better at first, with Dennis Schröder at the centre of the offensive and quickly scored 7 points. However, he forced some things on drives at an early stage and was cleared up several times. But his teammates supported him eagerly, and after just a quarter the Hawks had sunk six threesomes.
Devin Booker, on the other hand, didn’t play at all, his game was erratic with five early ball losses, including two offensive fouls. But Rookie knew how to please Josh Jackson with nice moves and a turnaround jumper. Also T. J. Warren woke up and punished the hosts from the middle distance and in transition. But the Hawks stayed ahead because the shooters were still hot, with only a 7-0 run by the visitors at the end of the half time to draw for the break (56:56).
However, it was not nice to look at. Both teams had too many shortcomings (a total of 22 turnovers after 24 minutes). Phoenix scored more than half of the throws and was clearly better than Atlanta, but they held up with already 11 threesomes (at 19 attempts) against it.
The Suns came out of the break better and after a dip from Warren, the lead was quickly increased to 7 points, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer took an annoyed quick break. Schröder took over again, especially his midrange jumper was sitting. But it was defensively little what Atlanta offered. Elfrid Payton found again and again the free players under the basketball or at the three-line. Marquese Chriss was one of the buyers, who was able to make good use of his freedoms with a quick release.
Chriss was also the one who made a strong bid for the block of the year at the end of the third quarter, when he radically cleared John Collins away on the third floor during his attempt at darkness. This seemed to motivate the guests again, especially the inconspicuous Booker took over now, while Budenholzer let only two starters play in the final quarter, Schröder also stayed on the bench, although he was not bothered.
The game was still tight, but also heated. Taurean Prince and Jackson clashed and created a small Brawl, where Payton and Isaiah Taylor were sent to shower. Booker then had the chance to win a four-point game 100 seconds before the end, but left the freebie at 110-110. It was Warren who led Phoenix, but Prince countered this with a wild threesome 7 seconds before the end. Booker tried again, but his attempt was ultimately a little too long.
The best scorer of the Hawks was Prince, the man of the day, with 22 points (6/8 threesome) Schröder scored 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 23 minutes. Alongside him, Malcolm Delaney also had a good hand in this evening, who was late in the third quarter but turned over and did not return after that. Booker scored 20 points in the Suns after a weak first half, while Payton (11.10 rebounds, 14 assists) scored a triple double. The best scorer of the guests was Warren (35), but Chriss (17,4 Blocks) also played well both in front and behind.