After some encouraging moments earlier in the month, the Atlanta Hawks finished February with five losses in the last six games. Some of that downturn can be traced to a rather difficult schedule that featured all six matchups against playoff-level teams, but the Hawks dropped a couple of close-fought contests and fell flat in back-to-back games against Miami and Oklahoma City.
Then, the Hawks found themselves trailing by 13 points early in the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday evening. In fact, Atlanta faced a 10-point deficit with less than six minutes remaining in a road game against a high-level team from the Western Conference, but the Hawks finished the game on an immaculate 16-4 run.
Here's a look at how the Hawks were able to pick up a massive road win to begin March.
The anatomy of a quality road win
From a broad standpoint, the Hawks were tremendous on offense against the Grizzlies. Not only did Atlanta finish with 132 points, but the Hawks also scored more than 1.3 points per possession. A lot of that success came with top-flight shooting, as the Hawks finished with a 64.1 percent mark in effective field goal percentage. That was the third-best mark for Atlanta this season, and the Hawks connected on 46 percent of their three-point attempts, albeit on modest volume.
Much can be said about strong perimeter shooting from the likes of Zaccharie Risacher (who finished with 27 points on 13 shots) and Garrison Mathews, among others, but the leading key to Atlanta's shooting attack was a full-on assault in the paint. The Hawks finished with a whopping 82 points in the paint, comfortably a season high for the team and the third-most points in the paint by any NBA team in a game this season. Atlanta clearly made a tangible effort to attack the rim throughout the game and, fittingly, the final bucket of the evening came on a well-crafted layup.
Caris LeVert was the hero of the evening for the Hawks, particularly given his work in the fourth quarter. After a wonderful steal and outlet pass by Dyson Daniels in the final seconds, LeVert calmly navigated the Memphis defense and finished at the rim, just as time expired. That capped a 16-point fourth quarter for the recently acquired veteran wing, and LeVert was instrumental in Atlanta's comeback, finishing with 25 points.
Aside from LeVert leading a fourth quarter charge that featured more than 1.4 points per possession for the Hawks in the final 12 minutes, Atlanta's defense was key. Granted, the Hawks struggled on the whole in this game, yielding 130 points on strong efficiency to the Grizzlies, but Memphis scored only four points in the final 5:20 of the game.
Over that sample, the Grizzlies scored just four points on ten possessions, and Atlanta forced four turnovers. The most infamous of the takeaways came from Daniels, who is enjoying the NBA's best season in both steals and deflections, but it was a group effrot from Atlanta to clamp down on a previously red-hot Memphis offense.
For the game, the Hawks created 20 turnovers that led directly to 29 points. Atlanta's heavy reliance in havoc creation in this game may not be sustainable, particularly on a night when the Hawks had their worst defensive rebounding performance of the 2024-25 season. However, it was enough to sneak away with the victory, and it was a win that Atlanta needed.
All told, the Hawks were able to win despite multiple factors that could sink the team on any given night. Trae Young finished with 15 assists and sparkled as a passer, but Atlanta's No. 1 option scored only 12 points on 18 shooting possessions. As noted above, the Hawks also gave up myriad offensive rebounds to the Grizzlies, and Memphis finished with 62.5 percent true shooting in the game. Atlanta also lost the free throw battle by a heavy margin, with the Grizzlies sinking 23 of 25 attempts while the Hawks shrunk to just 9 of 17 at the charity stripe.
Still, Atlanta's resilience shown through in this matchup, just as it often has this season. The Hawks have a penchant for being "giant killers" and winning games as substantial underdogs, including wins over Cleveland, Boston, New York, and now Memphis. Granted, this game featured the Grizzlies at less than full strength, but Atlanta's 16-4 closing kick was memorable and the highs were very high on this night at FedEx Forum.