Image From ATLHawks Twitter
How exactly can one recap last night’s game in a way that analyzes the Hawk’s slow start while still accounting for the scorched earth policy of Steph Curry’s offensive prowess? After all when number 30 is having a game like he did last night, there really isn’t much an opposing defense can do other than pray. With all of that being said let’s get into some of the details —
The Warriors came into this one as the hottest team in the league, let alone the West. They lead the league in offensive efficiency, scoring 115.2 pts per game (a figure that was boosted by last night’s 127 point effort) and have the second best defense, holding their opponents to 101.5 pts per game.
Still, Curry’s last handful of games were relatively tepid, with the point guard not able to clear the 20 point mark since a late October loss to the Grizzlies in OT in which he dropped 36.
In the first half the Hawks got off to a good start, at least offensively, putting up 65 points in what started out as a shootout between the two clubs. There wasn’t much defense played either, as Atlanta gave up 61 but things at least felt pretty good through two quarters. The shot profile was good — For this Hawks team to play like they did last year, that means prioritizing the three ball, considering the amount of capable shooters on the roster. Over 50% of Atlanta’s FGs came from beyond the arc, something I think should continue if we want to get back to the upper echelon of the conference.
Even with Curry starting out the game hot — He notched Golden State’s first 13 points, Trae was there to match him basically shot for shot. As a whole Atlanta looked like they were out-motioning the warriors too, getting into the teeth of the defense and doing damage inside the paint. John Collins also began the game a perfect 5/5 from the field and the Hawks seemed to be taking a page out of Golden State’s playbook (they lead the league in assisted baskets at 30 per game) with the amount of passing going around.
Things started to devolve in the third quarter after some emphasis was placed on involving Trae in off-ball actions — Curry got an easy one later into the third quarter, on a back cut. Some complaining after a perceived referring mistake led to a Jordan Poole transition lay-up, tying the game at 75 apiece. But really a 10 point Curry run to end the third seemed to be the deathblow — The Chase Center was ready to implode as the Warriors took a commanding 14 point lead before a prayer Juan Toscano-Anderson three ball extended that lead to 17, ending the third quarter. The Hawks got outscored by 21 in that period and were never able to recover.
So what exactly went wrong? Aside from Curry being Curry, the Warriors really exploited the Atlanta Hawks transition defense in the third, ramping up the pace to a breaking point. Even though the wing rotation has been an issue, with a lot of mouths to feed in Huerter, Reddish, Hunter, and Bogdanovich, three out of those four were able to establish a bit of rhythm (Reddish being the odd man out). I can’t believe I might be posing this question but is too much depth a problem? I’m inclined to say no but after this slow start to the season and watching our long list of wings struggle to get themselves into a flow (there’s only so many minutes available for that position) while also being redundant in ways, I can’t help but give it some more thought.
Expect the Hawks to come out tonight looking to get revenge on Utah. Hopefully Capela will regain the ability to score lightly contested lay-ups again.
