標籤: Nickel

ATLANTA – At this point in the season, every win matters for the Atlanta Hawks. It doesn’t matter who has been in front of them in the month of March, but for the most part, they have been able to take care of business and try to give themselves a chance to make the playoffs.

This time, the schedule featured the Memphis Grizzlies, whom they defeated 146–107. The Grizzlies have suffered a lot of injuries and roster turnover during the season, and despite coming into the game with a 24–46 record, they are still competing.

For Hawks, the task was simple, and to take care of business as usual.

“As a group, we’ve been professional,” Nichelle Alexander-Walker said. “That’s what it’s all about, doing your job. It doesn’t matter who they put against you. We were very conscious of who we were playing against tonight.”

“At the end of the day, these are the 450 best players in the world and the Grizzlies are dealing with a lot of injuries,” Onyeka Okongwu said. “There’s a lot of guys in and out of the lineup, so those guys are getting opportunities. They’re all working hard, and you’ve got to respect that. We’ve still got to do what we do and take care of business at the end of the day.”

The Hawks struck first to start the game and they continued to punch until the clock struck zero. Whether it was Alexander-Walker’s 26 points, Zachary Rishachar’s team-high eight rebounds, or CJ McCollum’s nine assists, they did everything they could to get the win and the Hawks treated this game like any other.

“One thing I learned is that if you lose to a team like that, it’s bad. If you beat a team like that, it’s like, ‘You should do this,'” Alexander-Walker said. “You don’t really win in that situation. You have to kind of break out of the noise, and you have to be professional.

“It’s my job to play the game, it’s my job to work hard, and it’s my job to try to win and do what I need to do for the team. Everybody came out to do that tonight, and I think that’s been a consistent thing that’s shown over time.”

There has been a lot of talk lately about the maturity of this team, and it has shown over the past month or so. They’re sticking to the game plan and coming in with the same mentality every night.

“I think it’s a collective thing where guys are putting the team first,” Quin Snyder said. “That’s where we have to be focused, and when that happens, we’re crashing the offensive glass, we’re sharing the ball, getting into the lane, breaking into the paint. Focusing on defense, I think, is the most important thing. When you see everybody bought into that, it says a lot about the guys in our locker room.”

Things will not be easy for the Hawks in the next few games, as they will face the top two teams of the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics. They know the importance of those games, but as long as they keep doing what they’ve been doing throughout the month, they’ll give themselves a chance to win.