Atlanta Hawks: Looking Deeper Inside Trae Young Vs Luka Doncic
Kent Bazemore
Trae Young was in the spotlight for his matchup vs Luka Doncic, but he was far from the only Atlanta Hawks player to have a major impact. In fact Kent Bazemore was my player of the game. He was fantastic, particularly from the second quarter on. Once Trae got in foul trouble Kent really asserted himself.
Kent Bazemore lead the team with a career high 32 points. Kent was great slashing to the basket and shooting mid range jump shots. He shot a very efficient 12-22 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line. The only area he was off was behind the arch, making just 3-11 from three.
More than just scoring Kent Bazemore was particularly effective as a play maker against Dallas. He added seven assists with only one turnover. Kent was also active in the passing lanes with three steals. It was just a great all around career night for Mr. Bazemore and the second straight big game he’s had this season.
Kent Bazemore stats: 18 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 52% field goals 36% threes
Taurean Prince
Taurean Waller-Prince was also huge for the Atlanta Hawks in the win over Dallas. Prince scored nine of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and 14 in the second half. Taurean was on the mark, shooting 8-15 from the field and a scorching 5-9 from the land beyond.
Taurean Prince also added four rebounds and three assist for the home team Hawks. He made 3-4 from the charity stripe. The only thing that limited his effectiveness was foul trouble, as the officials called many touch fouls in the contest.
The real key contribution for Prince, was his defense on Luka Doncic. He switched onto Doncic in the second quarter and did a great job of ball denial and containing him off the dribble. Taurean slowed down the early momentum that Luka had going, and Doncic never really recovered.
Looking at statics, it’s fair to say that Taurean Prince is making an early case to be an Eastern Conference All-Star. He’s the Atlanta Hawks leading scorer for the season.