Hawks' Georges Niang shares eye-opening take on 'good habits' after Warriors takedown

03/22/2025 11:33 PM

The Atlanta Hawks held down the fort at home against the Golden State Warriors, winning 124-115. The Hawks had the lead for over 46 minutes in the game, and every time it felt the Warriors were going on a run, they had an answer for every opportunity. Those are the things that can shape a winning team, and Georges Niang knows what it takes for a win like this to happen.

“The biggest thing for us is continuing to focus on building good habits,” Niang said after the game. “When you look at our team, there's a lot of first, second, third, fourth, or fifth-year guys. If you can consistently build habits of no matter what happens win, loss, draw, happy, mad, sad, and I'm going to do these three or four things night in or night out basis, I think at the end of the road you see that you start to become successful, and success is not linear.”

With the Hawks coming down to the stretch of the season, every game is important if they want to end up in a good position at the end of the year. The team is starting to see their hard work pay off, and from here on, it’s going to take consistency to stay in this flow state they’re in.

“We won four in a row, then we lost to Brooklyn, and now we win two in a row, and it's like we want to keep that going,” Niang said. “You also want to win in the margin, that's contesting shots or always running back on defense, building a wall, or rebounding. You want to build those habits to where they become second nature.”

Georges Niang, Hawks defeat Warriors for second straight win

It was an impressive win for the Hawks as they stayed fairly consistent on both sides of the ball throughout the game. They set the tone in the first quarter, opening up with a 40-23 lead and shooting 65% from the field. The Warriors made a run in the second quarter, but the Hawks were still able to maintain, with Onyeka Okongwu scoring 13 points in the period.

The second half belonged to Niang as he knocked down six threes to help the Hawks maintain their lead. Though Niang was on a heater, he still wanted to play within the flow of the offense.

“I learned at a young age that calling for the ball usually ends in the reverse, so I usually like to have my eyes wide open and show my hands, maybe clap,” Niang said. “Obviously, when you're rolling, you have a sense of that, and you never want to make it above you.”

Caris LeVert and Trae Young brought it in for the Hawks in the end, and with them having another scorer to help down the stretch it brings another dynamic to the team.

“He brings a lot of scoring ability, he brings a lot of attention,” Young said after the game. “So when I'm off the ball and he has the ball in his hands, more times than not, the guy is face-guarding me now and not letting me go. Gary Payton II was on me tonight, holding me the whole time.

“Whenever he starts going, beating his defender, and getting to the lane. it forces the defense to help in other ways so I'm able to get the ball later in the clock, get downhill and shoot a floater, find somebody else late in the clock. That just helps us and adds another dimension to the team.”

It was another true team win for the Hawks, and they’re going to need that going into the final weeks of the season.

“I think when you have a locker room full of good guys that are willing to put their egos aside and put winning in the forefront of everything,” Niang said. “Our leader is Quin Snyder and then the coaching staff, and I think coach Q does a good job of spelling things out of what he expects from guys and being honest enough where you know what's expected of you on a night-in and night-out basis.”

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