The Hawks are receiving strong contributions from their bench since adding Caris LeVert, Terance Mann and Georges Niang at the trade deadline, Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. That trio helped Atlanta defeat Miami on Monday and they combined for 50 on Friday. Alongside Clint Capela on Wednesday, they also scored 45 of the Hawks’ 109 points.
“I feel like we can keep getting better,” Capela said of Atlanta’s bench unit. “Once again, defensively, we’re able to get stops and run get easy buckets for everybody, myself included Caris, Terance, Georges. I mean, I feel like, those are the guys that know how to play, they’ve been in this thing long enough to know how to play, and I’ve started feeling better playing with them.”
In the eight games since each has been acquired, Niang is averaging 14.0 points while shooting 41.7% on 7.5 three-point attempts per game, LeVert is recording 15.3 points per game and Mann is averaging 8.4 points while shooting 57.9% from beyond the arc.
“Yeah, I think that’s the thing that’s kind of bringing us together, is our communication and our experience,” LeVert said. “We’ve all played a lot of basketball. So, I think just getting on the same page has been a lot easier.”
Williams adds that the Hawks still need to find a solution for replacing some of Trae Young‘s playmaking production when he sits and that Vit Krejci should be considered an option for alleviating that concern.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Jordan Poole is enjoying a strong second season in Washington after his production dipped in his first season there. As Varun Shankar of The Washington Post writes, Poole is averaging career highs in points (21.0), assists (4.8) and three-point percentage (37.0%). Poole didn’t start in 12 games last season but now he’s a full-time starter and is second on the Wizards in minutes per game.
- The Hornets are going through a tough stretch, winning just two games in February and losing their last five games. Still, coach Charles Lee is optimistic that the team is growing through the adversity, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes. “I thought just as a group, we competed at a much better level,” Lee said after their most recent loss, a 96-103 game against the Mavericks on Thursday. “To judge a man to see how he gets knocked down and to see how he responds, the group definitely responded today.“
- Josh Green returned to American Airlines Center for the first time as a member of the Hornets on Thursday. He had “weird feelings” in his return to Dallas, where he spent the first four years of his career, according to Mavs.com’s Eddie Sefko. “It’s been different for me,” Green said. “Being a younger guy in Dallas and then to come here and being a veteran, it’s definitely been a shift. It’s fun. I’ve enjoyed it. Looking back at my time in Dallas, my first couple years were some of my really toughest times, not playing, not getting many minutes. Having guys like Dwight [Powell] and Maxi [Kleber] were great leaders for me. And it’s motivated me to be the best [mentor] I can be for guys.”
- Roster deadlines are approaching and we wrote that the Heat could conceivably make a two-way contract switch, since Dru Smith is out for the season. However, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald hears that the front office is leaning toward keeping him on his two-way deal to avoid any team from claiming him and allowing Smith to reach restricted free agency this summer. From there, he could be re-signed to a two-way deal or to a standard contract. Smith established himself as part of Miami’s rotation before his unfortunate injury.