ATLANTA – After starting the season 2-0, the Atlanta Hawks had lost their last three games coming into their matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They've had several problems throughout the course of the week, but nothing was bigger than making shots, which in turn bled into their defense not getting stops when they needed.

It looked like that was going to be the case again for the Hawks in the first quarter, where they only scored 16 points. Luckily, they were able to turn things around in the second, and it felt like how things were when they first started the season. They scored 30 points in the second, while only allowing 16 points from the Cavs.

“It’s harder to defend when you’re not scoring because they’re running at you,” head coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “But even beyond that, you have to be mentally tough to dig in defensively, and we hung in there with that. Then the offense eventually started; we kind of settled in. That dynamic was a really important one in the game. That’s growth for us.”

It was Aaron Wiggins and Onyeka Okongwu who gave the Hawks the boost they needed in that quarter, and it continued throughout the game. Okongwu has struggled with his 3-point shot to start the season, but he was able to see a few more go down in this one, as he made 4-of-6.

“I just kept shooting them,” Okongwu said. “My teammates, coaches and everyone here, they want me to get them up. That’s what I do, and I’m very good at it. Being confident, trusting the process, trusting the work, and knowing that some games, when my 3s aren’t going down, keep shooting them. They’ll go down eventually.”

“Sometimes you can get discouraged a little bit by a result, especially if you’re a good shooter and you’re used to seeing the ball go in, and it affects other parts of your game,” Snyder said. “He was knocking down shots, but he didn’t hesitate. It’s been a big push to get him to feel comfortable shooting against closeouts, and when he does that, he also has the ability to put the ball on the floor.”

The Hawks didn't surrender the lead after they got it in the second quarter, and even when the Cavs looked like they were about to make a run, there was either a timely shot or a stop on the defensive end. Aaron Wiggins continued his strong scoring output, finishing with 20 points off the bench.

The wing has continued to make a big impact on the team this early, and he says that it's a product of the system and his teammates.

“It’s been easy because I think we've done a pretty good job of moving the ball and working possessions to get pretty good shots,” Wiggins said. “It makes it easy because we're getting the defense moved around and creating advantages for guys. And then we're doing a really good job crashing. I think crashing gives us some 2nd chances and opportunities to find open threes and cuts, and that gives a lot more scoring opportunities.”

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“He’s letting the game come to him, and that doesn’t mean don’t be aggressive either,” Snyder said. “He’s got a real poise about him on the offensive end, and it has a settling effect on his teammates too. It looks like he’s having fun playing the game.”

The Cavs did make one final push in the end, cutting the Hawks' lead down to just one with less than a minute left. Even with all the work Okongwu did on the perimeter during the game, his biggest play came down low after grabbing an offensive rebound and laying it up to give the Hawks a three-point lead.

“I was just trying to go up, get the ball and put it back up,” Okongwu said.

That ultimately sealed the deal for the Hawks, and they were able to break their three-game losing streak.