The Atlanta Hawks were a one-and-done in this year’s NBA play-in tournament. Atlanta fell to the Chicago Bulls in unentertaining fashion, 131-116. As the 10th seed, the Hawks had to travel on the road to Chicago and tango with the host-Bulls in a single elimination game.
From the first quarter on, Atlanta played like they knew their season was over or wanted it to be over. The urgency just did not seem to be there, as Atlanta trailed by as many as 23 at one point. The Bulls jumped all over the Hawks with a 40-point first quarter and did not look back. Give the Hawks credit, they did battle back to cut the lead within two points in the third quarter, but the Bulls were able to weather the storm.
Dejounte Murray played exceptional and was pivotal with keeping the Hawks in it early. He had 21 first-half points and finished with 30 on the night. Murray also chipped in 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Trae Young, who was only making his fourth start since returning from a finger injury that sidelined him for 28 games, looked rusty. The brace he was wearing on his hand made it difficult to shoot and dribble like he normally can. He finished with 22 points and 10 assists, shooting only 4 of 12 from the field, and also led all players with six turnovers.
Coby White of the Bulls was un-guardable as he gashed the Hawks for a career-high, 42 points. Veterans, Demar DeRozan & Nikola Vucevic, each played their part as well. DeRozan ended up with 22 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds, while Vucevic added a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bulls put an end to an underwhelming season for the Hawks. Another injury-riddled season that saw multiple players miss a plethora of games coupled with lackluster play, leads to an awkward offseason for the Hawks.
A lot of questions loom over the franchise: do they break up the duo of Young/Murray, how do they handle their final draft picks (after 2024 draft, Atlanta does not own a pick till 2028), what happens to the front office, what does Quin Snyder think about all this? Only time will tell, but the 2023-24 season is in the books.
