Looking to extend their two-game win streak, Atlanta traveled to Charlotte to take on the struggling Hornets, who came into this game on a seven-game losing streak. Atlanta’s brand new arrival, Saddiq Bey, played his first game as a Hawk in the absence of John Collins. It was the same story throughout the game for the Hawks, who allowed the Hornets to score almost 40 points in the first quarter alone. Their defensive effort was nonexistent, as they continually allowed Charlotte to get easy shots around the rim. In the first quarter alone, the Hawks allowed the Hornets to grab a quick 13-point lead.
The second quarter was far closer, with Atlanta cutting the lead to 4 with just four minutes into the quarter. It was the bench that came in and made a splash, and if it were not for the offensive explosion of Gordan Hayward in the second, Atlanta likely would have been in the lead to end the half.
The Hornets had a 12-point lead with just three minutes left in the half, but the Hawks new addition helped trim that deficit. Bey hit back-to-back contested corner three’s showing just how pivotal the addition of a sharpshooter was to this Atlanta bench. For the vast majority of this season, the Hawks bench has been atrocious offensively. After a back-and-forth foul fest, Atlanta ended the second quarter down by just 6.
For the most part the second half was the same, with Atlanta cutting the lead whenever they were able to string stops together, however, those moments were few and far between. It was the combination of Charlotte’s absurd three-point shooting and Atlanta looking completely lost defensively that allowed the Hornets to build a 16-point lead with just eight minutes left in the game. Just when it seemed like the game was out of reach, Charlotte allowed Atlanta to slowly cut the lead, getting it down to just 1 with 2 minutes left.
The game’s biggest play came from Hornets rookie, Mark Williams, who blocked a Trae Young three to take the lead to 5 with just under a minute left to play. The offense was never the problem for Atlanta, as they had 7 players with 10+ points and 4 players with 20+ points. However you are seldom going to win a basketball game when you allow the other team to score 144 points.
The Hawks will be looking to turn it around against the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
