Hawks Rookie Sharife Cooper Buried A Buzzer Beater Against The Pacers To Announce His Summer League Presence

Sharife Cooper falling to the second round was one of the big surprises on the night of the 2021 NBA Draft. But despite his slide, the Atlanta Hawks’ rookie already is making his presence felt at Summer League.

Cooper hit a buzzer beater on Tuesday afternoon at Cox Pavilion to help the Hawks beat the Pacers. The play came in a scramble, as Skylar Mays missed his own attempt and Max Heidegger collected the rebound after Pacers forward Cassius Stanley tried to throw the ball off of Jalen Johnson’s foot. Heidegger found Cooper in the corner and he cooly pulled up for three at the buzzer, giving Atlanta a 84-83 win.

Cooper finished with a team-high 21 points for the Hawks and was 5-for-8 on three-point attempts. Along with Johnson (who had 18 points and 10 rebounds) Atlanta is getting some strong play from from its two rookies. Cooper, who signed a two-way deal after slipping to the second round, arguably has been the best player Atlanta roster so far and came up big when an opportunity fell into his lap.

For the Pacers, first round pick Chris Duare finished with 21 points while shooting 8-for-19 from the field and 5-for-10 from three. Cassius Stanley, Indiana’s second round pick last year, added 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting.