Dyson Daniels Makes Eye-Opening Kingston Flemings Claim After Hawks Win

Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor set each other up for four baskets in a 2:40 stretch of the second quarter Friday night. The Atlanta Hawks went from down 34-30 to up 40-36 before Washington called timeout, and they beat the Washington Wizards 139-132 at State Farm Arena.

Flemings hit pull-ups from 17 and 15 feet off Ejiofor passes at 11:11 and 10:42. Ejiofor then scored on a layup and a fast-break dunk off Flemings feeds at 9:44 and 8:31.

Flemings, the No. 8 pick in June’s draft out of Houston, finished with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 6 assists in his second straight start. Atlanta was plus-13 in his 24:35.

Ejiofor, taken 23rd out of St. John’s, had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 14:38. He stole a Trae Young pass with 32.5 seconds left in the third quarter and dunked off a CJ McCollum feed at 14.2, putting Atlanta up 105-91 for its biggest lead.

Four of Flemings’ five field goals came inside the arc, including a cutting dunk at 7:19 of the first quarter. Dyson Daniels said the rookie is athletic enough to finish at the rim.

“He’s been really great. Me and O actually [were] talking after our last game, just like he’s probably the fastest guy we’ve ever seen,” Daniels said. “Like when he takes off, he’s hard to keep in front. Had to deal with that in training camp a lot. And he gets downhill. He gets two feet in the paint.”

“When he’s doing that, he’s making other guys’ jobs a lot easier,” Daniels continued. “And he’s very athletic as well, so he can go and finish at the rim. So he’s been a really big plus for us.”

Flemings scored 14 points Wednesday in his first NBA start, in a 120-105 win at Washington. He made that start after serving a one-game suspension for throwing an elbow at Pelicans guard Bryce McGowens on Oct. 31.

The work between Daniels and Flemings goes both ways, and it makes both players better.

“Just testing the rook, testing, especially during training camp,” Daniels explained. “I think that’s how we can make each other better, especially me, especially on the defensive end, just putting pressure on him, trying to [turn him], trying to do what I do out there and get [deflections] and stuff like that.”

“He’s really — like I said, he’s 19 years old, but he doesn’t play like that,” Daniels continued. “He’s really poised. And he’s a really good fit for us. He’s been really, really good and helped us win games.”

At Houston, Flemings became the first freshman in program history to earn All-America honors. Daniels finished Friday with 2 steals and 12 assists. Flemings had 2 turnovers.

With 10:48 left in the third quarter, Young drove for a layup and official John Butler called Flemings for a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul for flopping. Young’s layup and the technical free throw cut Atlanta’s lead to 66-62.

Flemings refocused once his emotional reaction passed, Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.

“I’ve said from the beginning of the year, those guys and like our team, because we’ve got a fair amount of new players and some really young players and some players that are young, not really young,” Snyder said. “Those two guys are rookies. So I think to be able to come into the game and play with that competitive fire that they have, and just really impact the game in intangible ways, I think that’s as much as anything [the] lift that they give the other guys. And then obviously they’ve both been able to make some plays.”

“Kingston in transition has been really, really good, forcing the pace, and they’re growing, and that growth is going to continue,” Snyder continued. “And along that way, there’s going to be [ebbs] and flows and peaks and valleys, but I think they’re focused and headed the right direction.”

Snyder only saw the flopping call on the arena monitor.

“It was hard to tell,” Snyder explained. “That was my assumption.”

Atlanta had already used its coach’s challenge with 5:40 left in the first quarter, on a shooting foul against Aaron Wiggins. The call was confirmed.

“The risk of listening to your players,” Snyder said, “using a challenge early in the game.”

Later in the third quarter, Flemings assisted on 3s by Nickeil Alexander-Walker at 7:19 and Onyeka Okongwu at 5:02. In the fourth, he set up a Wiggins 3 at 6:40 and scored on a drive at 6:08 for a 120-110 lead.

Snyder replaced him with McCollum at the 3:35 timeout. Atlanta hosts the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.