Nba play-in, Atlanta-Charlotte 132-103 with super Gallinari

Masterpiece. Atlanta earns a trip to Cleveland tomorrow night at 1.30 Italian with the place as seed number 8 of the playoff table in the East at stake, demolishing the certainties of Charlotte, wiped out 132-103 in the first match by “win or go home ”Of this postseason. The wine, the one that in the Hawks locker room is reserved for the man of the match, this time the whole team deserves it, even if coach McMillan poured a glass for Clint Capela, still defensive with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

“I will toast at home” joked Danilo Gallinari, among the protagonists with 18 points including a dunk that “no one in the arena thought I still knew how to do”. Charlotte imploded just as she had to level up, crushed by the Hawks’ offensive arrogance: like last year, Borrego’s team’s season stops at Play-In. “We have to improve further, I’m sure we will,” said the coach.

Group

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“We had prepared the match well, but defense was the key,” says Gallinari satisfied. Atlanta kept the Hornets 37.8% from the field, with three-star Hornets LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier and Miles Bridges capped at 20/58 overall. Atlanta also worked great in attack, with 6 players in double figures and Trae Young good at understanding that in the first half, with two defenders on, he needed to involve his teammates. “Playing like this forces me to trust my teammates – explained the Hawks star, 24 points and 11 assists on the scoresheet -: two defenders on me means that they can take shots without anyone around. I know they can do many things, it’s nice to see them do it ”. Atlanta closed with 52.1% shooting, making the difference in a third quarter of 42 points in which he shot with 66.7% and made the gap unbridgeable. Gallinari was important: again the starter due to the absence of John Collins (recoveries unlikely for Cleveland) showed how much his experience and his ability to do many different things on the pitch are fundamental and give tranquility to the Hawks. In addition to the defense of Capela, De’Andre Hunter is also fundamental, aggressive throughout the game on Bridges and key in the escape of the third quarter in which he put 16 of his 22 points.

Flop

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Charlotte ends with a disappointing game a season in which she returned to having a winning record (43-39) for the first time since 2016. The flop in Atlanta, however, is the signal that something is still missing to return to the playoffs. “I am proud of what we have done – explained Borrego -. Atlanta had played the final in the East last year and that experience was important for them. We have to grow, I am convinced we will do it again ”. Charlotte, who entered the decisive game without the injured Gordon Hayward, one of the secrets of her success, never managed to play at a high pace, and despite defending well on Young in the first half she was unable to do the same on the rest of the Hawks . In attack, all the best pieces disappointed: Ball finished with 26 points but shot 7/25 from the field; Rozier, never really Scary, finished with 21 and 8/22; Bridges, best scorer of the season above 20 points, stopped at 12 and even got kicked out in the fourth period, when the game was compromised. The Hornets lacked the head, the habit of this type of matches where you play the season and you can’t go wrong: to level up you need to learn how to win them.

The match

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Atlanta takes control of the match with a 22-6 run in the first quarter, despite Young closing it with 1/9 shooting. Gallinari with 10 points in the second ensures that Atlanta remains in front (60-52 at rest), but it is in the third period that the Hawks turn, splitting the game thanks to 16 points from Hunter and 14 from Young. When the third siren sounds, Atlanta is ahead 102-76. Gallinari breaks through the +30 wall with 8’39 ”on the clock and the match goes to archive. Like the Hornets season. That of the Hawks continues Friday in Cleveland.
Atlanta: GALLINARI 18 (5/7 of two, 2/5 of three, 2/3 free throws), 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 30 ‘. Young 24 (7/17, 1/7, 7/8 tl), Hunter 22, Capela 15. Rebounds: Capela 17. Assist: Young 11.
Charlotte: Ball 26 (3/11, 4/14, 8/10 tl), Rozier 21, Washington 17. Rimbalzi: Washington 6, Martin 6. Assist: Ball 8.