Flemings shines in overtime loss as Hawks lose 102-101 in Summer League debut

The Atlanta Hawks were in action on Independence Day, kicking off their summer league season with a matchup against no. 2 overall pick Darryn Peterson and the Utah Jazz.

With Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor and Henri Veesaar all making their Sumer League debuts, Saturday was the first opportunity for the Hawks to see their 2026 draft picks in action. In addition to their trio of draftees, last year’s first-round draft pick, Asa Newell was also in uniform for this one as he looked to build off a promising rookie season. Starting fives below.

Peterson wasted no time introducing himself to his new fanbase — converting a pretty lay-in on a drive on Utah’s first possession of the game, and blocking Kingston Flemings on a fastbreak a few plays later.

With Utah off to a strong start, Asa Newell did a nice job keeping the Hawks in the game early on with a couple nice buckets early on.

Newell’s off the dribble game and outside shot are both areas of improvement for the 20-year-old ahead of his sophomore season, and the manner in which he scored his first two baskets of the game was sure to put some smiles on the faces of Hawks fans.

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That said, the early portion of the game was all Utah, with the Jazz racing out to a 20-9 lead before Atlanta’s bench unit got them back in the game.

This three from second-round pick, Henri Veesaar, cut the Jazz lead to two — and Atlanta trailed 24-20 at the end of the first quarter.

Atlanta was sloppy to open the second quarter, with the lineup of Keshon Gilbert, Gabe Madsen, Isaac McKneely, Jacob Toppin and Henri Veesaar being outscored 13-3 in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the period, before Flemings and Newell returned to the game with Atlanta down by 14 points.

While Utah were the stronger team, Atlanta’s outside shooting kept them in the game, with the Hawks hitting five threes in the second quarter — including this corner bomb from no. 8 overall pick, Kingston Flemings.

It was good to see Flemings get on the board, but overall the rookie out of Houston had a tough time shooting the ball in his first Summer League action, going just 1-for-7 from the field in the…

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Publish date : 2026-07-04 23:53:00

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