Quin Snyder Sees Kingston Flemings Growing As Hawks Rookie Develops

Kingston Flemings made his second preseason start Monday night, and his 28 minutes produced 7 points and 7 assists as the Atlanta Hawks held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 113-110 in Atlanta. The rookie shot 3-of-11 from the field and 1-of-2 at the free-throw line.

Flemings scored on a running layup off a Nickeil Alexander-Walker pass 68 seconds into the game and hit a pull-up jumper from a Jock Landale assist two minutes later. Three of his eight misses were blocked, by Thunder rookie Aday Mara, Anthony Pritchard, and Andrew Holifield.

Five of his assists came before halftime. Two of them set up Dorian Finney-Smith 3-pointers, and another went to Jalen Wilson for a 3 that put Atlanta up 48-41 late in the second quarter.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder met reporters at State Farm Arena after the win and pointed to Flemings' continuing development on both ends of the floor.

"I think that the word process, I think, is one that we felt," Snyder said. "You saw that over the course of the summer. He continues to have a feel for what's going on in the game, whether — when to shoot, when to pass."

"Right now, I thought from the last game, too, he had a better presence on the ball and using his quickness and athleticism defensively," Snyder continued. "And that was part of the process, getting him in situations where he could really defend and have an impact, but not foul. He's a young guy, and he can keep working."

The last game was Saturday's 119-117 win at Indiana. Flemings came off the bench there and scored 8 points, and he ran into foul trouble, according to SI's All Hawks.

Flemings started the Oct. 5 opener against Memphis with CJ McCollum resting. Three nights later at San Antonio, back in a reserve role, he scored 15 in 19:50 and added 5 assists and 3 steals.

Atlanta drafted Flemings eighth overall out of Houston on June 23. His rookie-scale deal is worth about $33 million, according to Spotrac. In his Salt Lake City Summer League debut, he had 14 points and 9 assists.

He focused on defense during his first training camp, which the Hawks held at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Landale, who started Monday at center, said after the game that Flemings did a great job directing the group on the floor. Landale had 17 points, and three of his baskets came off Alexander-Walker passes.

Flemings also picked off a pass from Mara in the second quarter, and with 1:12 left before halftime he dunked off a feed from Landale, who had just come up with a steal of a Bennett Stirtz pass.

Twice in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, Zuby Ejiofor put back a missed Flemings layup. Atlanta scored 34 points in the period.

McCollum, Dyson Daniels, Luguentz Dort, and Aaron Wiggins all rested Monday along with Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu. Alexander-Walker started beside Flemings in the backcourt.

The Hawks visit the Dallas Mavericks on Friday for the preseason finale. Their regular season begins Oct. 21 at Orlando, at 7 p.m. ET.