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It’s hard to imagine Dejounte Murray’s debut with the Eagles any better than his debut in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
The 26-year-old put on an Eagles jersey for the first time and had 25 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks while leading the Eagles to their first of two preseason games against Milwaukee With a 123-113 win, it’s the NBA’s 2022 Abu Dhabi Games.
Trae Young, also a point guard, had 22 points and three assists while working together in an almost seamless fashion. The benefit of having two ball creators has paid the Hawks some early dividends. With Trae and Dejounte, the Hawks don’t have to always attack the opposing team’s best perimeter defender, coach Nate McMillan mentioned in his postgame remarks.
“We wanted to try and exploit the defense,” McMillan said. “(Dejounte and Trey) put the ball in the hands of defenders that we could use very well. Playing with the ball, playing without the ball – I think our fullbacks played really well tonight. There was a night where we dealt with the basketball. The number of people – and only eight turnovers – is a good sign.”
McMillan has some concerns about the other side of the ball. While Clint Capela has excelled at defending two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo — Capela forced all three of Antetokounmpo’s turnovers in one steal and two charges — McMillan wants his perimeter players to get more in terms of rebounding and helping defend Antetokounmpo (19 points, 6-16 shooting).
“We’re not tight enough to have (Giannis) play in our paint. We have to do a better job of keeping our bodies in front of the basketball,” McMillan said. “Our guards, who know they have to get better this season, help our bigs rebound.”
DeAndre Hunter had 17 points and seven rebounds.Aaron Holiday and John Collins scored 16 points each while also teaming up Alley Dunk.
“I think we’ve been able to put a lot of things together in the preseason so far,” Collins said of playing with Dejounte. “I like (to have) another leader, another guy who can find players and rebound. He’s going to play basketball, he’s going to play hard.”
The Hawks shot just 7-for-22 (31.8 percent) from 3-point range, but they more than made up for it with a fresh face and new role offensively. McMillan said Dejounte had a good instinct for finding that balance.
“He has a good feel for the game,” McMillan said of Dejounte. “Of course he can handle the ball, but he understands getting his teammates involved. He started most of the attack tonight, passing the ball to Trey, DeAndre and John, and when he feels he has a chance, he does too. Take the chance to match up. I think it’s better because of his basketball IQ.
The Eagles and Bucks played again and wrapped up their overseas trips on Saturday. Expect some new faces in that one.
“We’re going to get more young minutes in Game 2,” McMillan said. “Some of our young players who didn’t play tonight, we’ll put them in the rotation.”
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