Hawks guard Lou Williams nearly retired after he was traded to Atlanta, but he decided to join the team after a short personal break. In Wednesday's 109-106 victory, he played his biggest role yet for the underdog Hawks.
Williams, Atlanta's second-unit scorer, may have been the heartbeat of the comeback as he saw extended time alongside Trae Young the entire fourth quarter.
With Bogdan Bogdanovic sitting on five fouls and struggling from deep (0 for 4), Hawks head coach Nate McMillan rolled the dice with Williams and it paid off.
Lou Williams scored 13 of his 15 points down the stretch and could certainly be considered the X-factor in the 26-point turnaround.
For those who want to rely on pure analytics instead of game film to decide Williams' impact, he was a +31 for the Hawks in just 23 minutes.
When Lou came on the court with 4:56 remaining in the third quarter, the Hawks were down 21 points. He didn't step off the court again until there were 21.9 seconds left and the Hawks had a three-point lead.
While this might be the first time some Hawks fans are seeing just how dynamic Williams can be off the bench in the playoffs, it's certainly not Lou's first rodeo.
Prior to the role he played in the Hawks' 26-point comeback, Williams previously had been involved in a 31-point turnaround when he was with the Clippers in 2019.
He was the tip of the spear in that game as well, providing 35 points and 11 assists (current Hawks teammate Danilo Gallinari was on that Clippers team as well and had a big night also).
After completing the largest playoff comeback in Atlanta Hawks history, they will have a chance to close out the series in Game 6 at State Farm Arena on Friday evening.