Five Takeaways from Hawks Win Against Magic

It wasn't pretty, but the Atlanta Hawks narrowly defeated the Orlando Magic last night. Atlanta blew a double-digit lead and needed a questionable foul call to secure the game, but a win is a win. Below are our five biggest takeaways from the game.

Home-Court Advantage

State Farm Arena is where winning streaks come to die. Atlanta has ended winning streaks from the following teams at home; Milwaukee (5), Sacramento (7), Denver (4), and Orlando (6).

Additionally, Atlanta has won three contests that went into overtime and four games that were tighter than a three-point margin. Atlanta is not a good team (at least not yet), but every good team gets lucky breaks.

Foul Call

Speaking of lucky breaks, Atlanta got bailed out by a whistle that came way after the game's penultimate play. As drawn up during the timeout, Dejounte Murray got a clean look in the corner with three seconds remaining.

The shot was way off, but the official decided enough contact was made by Murray's fellow Seattleite and frenemy, Paolo Banchero, to call the foul. Murray sunk both free throws and clinched the victory for Atlanta.

Dejounte Murray buries a pair of clutch free throws... @ATLHawks hold on! https://t.co/WjlleQtEc5 pic.twitter.com/6bbQaD4IPO
— NBA (@NBA) December 20, 2022

Trae Young

Atlanta will only go as far as Trae Young can take them. Sure, performances from Murray and Atlanta's lovable cast of characters are important, but Young remains the engine of the team's offense.

With few bright spots through 30 games, Young has begun trending in the right direction over the past week. Last night, Young tallied 37 points and 13 assists. More importantly, he shot 50% from the field and 42.9% from three.

Defense

After a promising start, Atlanta's defensive rating (112.7) has slid back to 18th in the league. Orlando is bottom-five in points per game and offensive rating, yet the young team scored 125 points last night.

What gives? The main factor was the absence of Clint Capela. Not only is Capela the dream pick-and-roll partner of Young, but he is the anchor of Atlanta's defense. Let's hope Capela's right calf strain is not serious and does not cause problems with his infamous heel issues.

Nate McMillan

Hawks head coach Nate McMillan often disagrees with the notion that he experiments with lineups, but that is exactly what he and his staff have done since the season started. Sometimes, it lacks rhyme or reason. For example, Orlando is a big team, and Atlanta went small with its starting lineup.

After starting three of the last four games, Trent Forrest was a DNP (coach's decision). Bogdan Bogdanovic has replaced AJ Griffin in the starting lineup. John Collins started at center in his first game back after 2+ weeks. Additionally, Jalen Johnson's minutes have slowly dwindled.

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