Instant Takeaways From The Atlanta Hawks' Blowout Win Over The Golden State Warriors

The Hawks exchanged blows with the Warriors before running away with the game in the third quarter and never looking back.

Jan 11, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) drives to the basket between Golden State Warriors defenders Quinten Post (21) and Draymond Green (23) during the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

A blowout win is always a good thing, regardless of who it's against. However, this one has to be among the most impressive of the season. They got the Warriors' best shot - Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry all played in this one. They had to integrate two new players into the lineup. Fiurthermore, the Warriors themselves were coming off two straight wins and a new starting lineup that finally seemed to unlock their potential. It wouldn't have been entirely surprising if Atlanta gave the Warriors a tough fight and ultimately faltered down the stretch.

That was not the game. Instead, the Hawks largely dominated from wire-to-wire in one of their most complete showings of the year. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led them with 24 points, but Luke Kennard dropped 22 points off the bench to give Atlanta an unexpected scoring punch. Both Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels stuffed the stat sheet with near triple-doubles. For the Warriors, Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry had 30 and 31 points respectively, but no other Warrior finished with over 10 points. Atlanta's depth and togetherness made the difference tonight and they'll be taking some positive momentum into an exciting matchup with the Lakers because of it.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from tonight's game.

1) Hawks Come Out Hot

Jan 11, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) slaps the ball away from Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The first half from Atlanta was one of their most complete two-way efforts of the season. They shot 36.8% from deep (7-19) while holding one of the most three-point reliant teams in the NBA to 26.3% shooting (5-19) from deep and 43.2% (19-44) from the field. Golden State stayed in the game due to hitting 10 of their 11 free throws, but the overall process on both sides was much cleaner for the Hawks.

It wasn't the cleanest start for the Hawks in the first quarter as they immediately gave up a jumper to Steph Curry on the first play of the game. However, they quickly re-grouped and kept pace with Golden State throughout the first quarter, ending the quarter only down by 1. From there, the Hawks essentially traded blows with Golden State until Jimmy Butler went on a run, scoring five points by himself on three consecutive drives to the hoop. Now down 46-41, the Hawks looked a little stale before Jalen Johnson woke them up with a thunderous dunk where he just seemed to glide in the air past his defender on a feed from CJ McCollum. From there, the Hawks rode the momentum on a 18-7 run where they took the lead with an 8-1 run to make it a 59-53 game at half.

2) Jumpin' for Jalen

Jan 11, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) dunks the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The Warriors aren't a very big team, so it shouldn't have been very surprising that Jalen Johnson had a great game against them. However, they do still have Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler to put on the 6'8 power forward. Rather than use one or two dedicated defenders on him, Golden State used a ton of different defenders against Johnson, but it didn't make much of a difference. Johnson had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists at half. He did enough to give the Hawks a lead heading into the third quarter and then took a backseat because quite frankly, the team didn't need a lot from him. Even though he fell short of a triple-double, his final stat line of 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to go with two blocks illustrated that he doesn't need to have a triple-double every night in order to be a clear positive for the team. Atlanta's bevy of strong performances also allowed Johnson to focus on the defensive end and he had one of his better nights on that end in some time.

3) Third Quarter Takeover

Jan 11, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) launches a fadeaway jumper over Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) during the second quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

While the Warriors did cut the deficit to 2 in the third quarter, the Hawks forced them into an incredibly sloppy and rushed effort marked by a 15-2 run by Atlanta. The Warriors turned the ball over five times in the third quarter after turning it over six times in the entirety of the first half. However, the most impressive part of Atlanta's performance in the third quarter was the defense. The Warriors went 2-12 from deep and many of the shots they took from three-point range were just bad shots. The Hawks kept up with the ball movement of Golden State, oftentimes switching in order to keep the defensive scheme intact, and continued to attack the rim when they got offensive possessions.

4) The Luke Kennard Game

Jan 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Luke Kennard (3) shown warming up on the court prior to the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Luke Kennard has not exactly been a banner acquisition for the Hawks this season, but he practically won this game by himself due to his hot shooting from deep. Kennard went 8-10 from the field and 6-8 from deep, terrorizing the Warriors whenever they gave him the slightest bit of space. Interestingly, he made all of those threes in the second half. Kennard is a streaky shooter and there are going to be highs and lows. However, the highs were incredibly high tonight and he was huge for the Hawks when they needed to put the game away.

5) Total Team Win

Jan 11, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Vít Krejci (27) drives the baseline past Golden State Warriors center Quinten Post (21) during the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

This was a complete team performance from start to finish because the Hawks excelled in several of the ancillary areas that affect winning. They dominated the Warriors in points off turnovers (28-11) and took much better care of the ball, winning the turnover battle 15-7. Atlanta had six players end up in double-figures for points and shot 38.5% from beyond the arc while holding the Warriors to 28.3% from deep as a team. Outside of Vit Krejci's foul trouble limiting him to 21 minutes and five points, every starter finished with 15+ points.

Atlanta's new arrivals didn't do a lot, but McCollum chipped in 12 points off the bench and showed some nice chemistry with Johnson as a passer. Kispert only had 2 points, but did a good job of hustling on defense and driving to the rim to make himself avaliable. It was a solid debut for the Hawks' reinforcements and they should get better as they acclimate to their new team.