Much like Monday, Atlanta came into Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls with dampened expectations. The Hawks have been ravaged by Covid-19, and only had four members on the roster that actually started the season with the club. It led to a similar result on the court, as the Hawks fell to the Bulls in Chicago, 117-131.
It is truly hard to say where the Hawks are as a team at this point, with so many key players not playing. The team was already hit with an injury-bug prior to the Covid outbreak, and this has only exasperated the situation. Miami and San Antonio was postponed last night, but again the Hawks had to fill the roster out and play. This only muddies the water of what the actual protocols for teams are, and why some are awarded postponement and others are not. This is a bigger question about the 2021-22 season, because like it or not, these games are counting in the standings.
On the court, Trae Young had a similar performance as he did Monday night. Finishing with 26 points and 11 assists, Young’s shot for the second straight game, was a little off, shooting 44% overall and only 29% from three.
The Bulls may have found their “Trae Young-stopper” in rookie forward, Ayo Dosonmu. In the eight minutes Dosonmu guarded Young, he forced two turnovers, had two blocks, and held Trae Young to 22% shooting overall. If the Hawks had their full complement of players, defenses most likely would not be able to zone in on Young like they have and will continue to do.
Clint Capela had a nice game statistically, finishing the night with 18 points and 15 rebounds. What does not show up on the box score is something that has haunted Capela this first half of the season: easy missed shots and the lack of shot-blocking/defensive prowess. Capela was one of the league leaders in blocks per game last year, and his lack of rim-protection is becoming noticeable, especially since that is one of his strengths as a player. The missed shots continue to plague the young center and is truly becoming a problem for this team. Wasted possessions in today’s NBA are a killer, especially for an under-manned Hawks squad.
The Bulls starting five was terrific last night finishing with a combined 92 points out of their 131 total. DeMar DeRozan and Zach Lavine were Hawks-killers again, finishing with 20 points and 25 points, respectively. On the night, the Bulls shot a scorching 61.9% from the field overall, out-assisted the Hawks 38-26, and outscored the Hawks 31-14 in fast break points. For the Bulls, that is a winning recipe, for the Hawks, if they continue to let teams do that to them, they will keep falling in the standings. The Bulls largest lead of the night was 27 points at one juncture.
The Hawks close out 2021 with a road trip to Cleveland. A team they lost to early in the season, and their second matchup was postponed due to the Cavaliers not having enough players because of Covid. The Cavs are sitting as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, and the way the Hawks are playing, it can be safe to call the Hawks an underdog in this matchup.
Tip-off for that game is at 7:30pm eastern in Cleveland. It will be interesting to see how the Hawks bounce back, and if they will have more players available.
