After what seemed like a turnaround win against the Detroit Pistons on Friday, the Atlanta Hawks were dominated by the Indiana Pacers, 129-114. Trae Young continued his woeful stretch of inconsistency from the field, while the entire starting lineup posted a double-digit-negative +/- rating.
The Hawks started the game well, despite the erratic defensive schemes the Pacers were throwing at Young. Bogdan Bogdanovic came out red-hot, shooting an efficient 2-3 from long-range, scoring 8 points total in the first frame. Young had 5 points and 4 assists, including a highlight reel alley-oop play. After what seemed to be a momentum-swinging play that could propel the Hawks to victory, it never materialized into something larger.
The second quarter was much of the same, with Atlanta struggling from both the field and three-point land, and a complete inability to get a stop anything defensively. After Jalen Johnson missed two free throws on back-to-back possessions, Atlanta failed to come close to the lead for the remainder of the game.
Despite his struggles this season, John Collins had one of his best games of the season, scoring 26 points, with 13 of them coming in the third quarter. When the Hawks cut the lead to seven on a Young-jumper, it seemed like Atlanta could claw their way back in. However, Indiana went on a 14-5 run, putting the game out of reach to close the third quarter.
The Hawk’s inability to win a game wire-to-wire has been glaring all throughout the season. Landry Fields has landed himself in a tough predicament, with fans harking on ownership’s unwillingness to enter the luxury tax, and a team massively underperforming, it is unclear what his next step should be.
After Tuesday’s loss to Indiana, the Hawks hosted the league’s hottest team in the Brooklyn Nets back down in Atlanta. Trae Young was ruled out of this one with a right-calf contusion, but the Hawks hung around with the Nets until the final buzzer, but ultimately fell 108-107.
Things started on the right foot, but what could have been an easy win for Atlanta quickly turned into a nightmare, as Nate McMillan and company failed to come out with a win despite having a 15-point lead towards the end of the second.
The first quarter was a back-and-fourth affair, with Atlanta and Brooklyn scoring at will. The Hawks were moving the ball freely, and Dejounte Murray was leading the charge with 9 points and 5 assists in the first quarter.
The second quarter is where the Hawks started to separate themselves. Atlanta went on a 12-0 run to start the second, surprisingly, it was Jalen Johnson who was the leading scorer of the quarter, finishing with 9 points in the second frame, most of which came from Johnson creating his own shot. With 4 minutes left in the half, the Hawks had grown their lead to 15, but that shrank to just a 7-point lead by half-time.
The Nets continued their run in the third, outscoring Atlanta by 10 in the quarter. Murray struggled to produce high-quality shots, and the Hawks shot an abysmal 7-27 from the field in the third period. Brooklyn had all the momentum in the fourth, with Kyrie Irving hitting some ridiculous shots to push the Net’s lead to 13 with 8 minutes left in the game. The Hawks came roaring back, and with 3 minutes left, the lead was down to just three.
Bogdanovic hit a clutch-three, and Collins produced an easy bucket on a switch in the post. Murray missed a clutch-free throw to tie the game following a steal with less than 30 seconds left. Somehow, the Hawks got another opportunity to score. John Collins secured the rebound with just 7 seconds left, and despite over half of the team still not past half-court, Nate McMillan elected to refrain from calling a timeout. After Murray stumbled at half-court, he was forced to heave a three-pointer in double coverage missing and giving the Hawks their second loss in a row.
The Hawks will have a day’s rest before hosting the struggling Los Angeles Lakers at State Farm Friday night.
