Hawks culture on and off the court (HBCU Night)

The Atlanta Hawks hosted HBCU night at the State Farm Arena on February 24th, 2023. In a dominant win over the Cleveland Cavaliers (136-119), the hawks had a statement to make. Coming out of the 2023 NBA All-Star break and internal transitions with Head Coach Nate McMillian being dismissed. The team played forty-eight minutes of pure basketball. Starting the half with #11 Trae Young, #41 Saddiq Bey, and #5 Dejounte Murray dominating with chemistry and back-to-back plays. Interim Head Coach Joe Prunty stated in the post-game interview that a slow start didn’t stop this team from playing the game of basketball. “I felt that we would be a little rusty starting the game, even at the beginning of the game the cavaliers started to get up to a nice lead and Trae had two fouls. Overall, I believe we were able to figure out the rhythm in that second quarter making it a great team win for us tonight.”

Tonight, the Hawk’s high intensity and chemistry helped them come out with a win. The team made great back-to-back plays with many players contributing to the success. Young with 34 points was a key player in tonight’s matchup making plays count when needed and keeping his teammates in the momentum. Creating space for nice assists and nicely-getting them on the board. In the postgame interview, Young discussed the chemistry and the atmosphere and how it helped him, and his team come out with a nice win tonight over the Cavaliers. “I think the break helped us all get away for a second, so we could come back out to play free and with chemistry forcing us to have a great win”. With this chemistry, the hawks lead the game in assists with twenty-two ending the third quarter to Cleveland’s twelve. Bey and Murray were also key players in tonight’s matchup. Bey making big executions with multiple blocks and steals. And Murray making important back-to-back executions scoring 25 points with most coming from the suppression of stopping the Cavaliers in the first half.

As each quarter flew by, the teams’ energy only increased. Energy is so important in this league! From the fans to the players. “Energy and effort are what you put into the game and the results will show” stated Prunty. With it being HBCU night, the players could feel the fans’ love pouring in, making it another aspect to keep up the teams’ energy in tonight’s matchup. “The fans in Atlanta are here to support their team, having this culture embrace our team helped our guys tonight in a great effort and come out with a win.” Overall tonight’s game was full of energy and if the hawks keep up this energy, they will be unstoppable throughout the rest of the 2022-2023 regular season.

The Hawks will return at the State Farm Arena on Sunday, February 26^th, in a matchup against the Brooklyn Nets.