The Atlanta Hawks once again became a footnote in history, following their 148-143 loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks. The league’s worst defensive team, statistically speaking, in the Atlanta Hawks allowed the fourth most points in NBA history to Dallas’ Luka Doncic, who finished with 73 points on a hyper-efficient 25-33 shooting from the field overall.
In what was actually a competitive game, no one will remember much but the monster-outing from Doncic, who essentially accounted for the entire Maverick’s offense. He also finished with 7 assists and 10 rebounds. Doncic’s herculean effort dwarfed anything the Hawks could do.
To put in perspective, Dallas only had two other players finish with double-digit scoring, in Josh Green with 21 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. with 13 points. Atlanta did enough once again offensively, to come out with a win, but the common theme of lackadaisical-defense, and low-effort doomed the Hawks and saw them lose another tight game in the fourth quarter.
Trae Young, who was famously involved in the draft-day trade, that sent Doncic to Dallas and Young to Atlanta, played well in his own right. He finished with 30 points, on 9-18 shooting, with 11 assists and 3 steals. This was his first game back since suffering a concussion against the Cavaliers last Sunday.
“He [Doncic] was hot, he was going,” said Young in the postgame interview. “We were trying everything, we were trying to trap him.”
Jalen Johnson finished with 25 points on an impressive 10-12 from the field. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 24 off the bench, and Dejounte Murray finished with 22 points and 7 assists.
Following a three-game winning-streak, the Hawks have now dropped four straight and continue to fall in the standings. They are now 18-27 on the season, and are currently tied with the Brooklyn Nets for 10th in the East, the final play-in spot. They will look forward to getting a win on Sunday at home against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are just behind the Hawks standings-wise, so this could be an important one when all said in done, to create some breathing room. Tip-off for Sunday’s game is at 6:00 p.m. from State Farm Arena.
