When the Atlanta Hawks selected A.J. Griffin out of Duke with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, it would have been reasonable to expect he’d need a few years to contribute. Griffin was only 18 years old on draft day, and is the third youngest player in the NBA this season. Griffin’s big frame and outstanding shot-making touch for a wing made him one of our favorite prospects in the last draft, but his appeal was more about his long-term ceiling than his ability to succeed right away.
Griffin was out of the rotation for the start of the year, but when he finally got a chance to play he made sure head coach Nate McMillan couldn’t bury him again. Griffin already had one signature moment in his rookie season when he scored on one of the wildest game-ending sequences of the year to give Atlanta a win over Toronto. He might have out-done himself on Sunday against the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls took a one-point lead with 0.5 seconds left after DeMar DeRozan was fouled on a last second three-pointer, and hit all three of his free throws. The Hawks only had time for a tap in, and they pulled it off beautifully: Griffin cut back door, caught the ball in the air, and made a tough shot to give the Hawks an improbable 123-122 overtime win. Watch it here:
Halfcourt Hoops, one of the best follows on NBA Twitter, noticed something wild about Griffin’s game-winner: it’s almost the exact same play the Milwaukee Bucks used to beat the Bulls in the 2015 playoffs. Current Hawks assistant Joe Prunty was an assistant on that Bucks team, and appeared to give the call for the same player after Atlanta called timeout on their first inbounds attempt.
Here’s the 2015 play with Jerryd Bayless beating the Bulls on a similar cut.
And here’s Griffin’s first game winner this year, which happened against the Raptors a few weeks earlier. The rookie is making his presence felt.
Two game-winners in one season for a rookie. Not bad for a 19-year-old.