It was a night to forget for the Hawks out in California.
The Hawks were facing the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors in a late-night matchup and it did not go well for them. The Warriors lept out to a 41-22 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Hawks offense no-showed and could not catch up to the Warriors and Atlanta’s record dropped to 7-9.
So what are the big takeaways from last night?
When the Atlanta Hawks have lost basketball games this year, you can usually point to a single quarter as the reason why. They were outscored 38-17 in the third quarter in the loss to the Blazers on Sunday, they scored only 15 points in the 4th quarter in a loss to Chicago and tonight vs the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, Atlanta was outscored 41-22 in the first quarter. Golden State only outscored Atlanta 79-75 the rest of the way, but the damage was done already. Atlanta’s offense was non-existent the whole night and Golden State cruised to a 120-97 victory over the Hawks.
The defense was bad in the first quarter, but the offense was the main issue. The Hawks shot 35% from the field and 29% from three. Golden State on the other hand was 60% from the field and 46% from three. The bench for the Warriors outscored the Hawks bench 19-3. It was a really rough first quarter for Bogdan Bogdanovic, Onyeka Okongwu, De’Andre Hunter, and Kobe Bufkin.
More often than not in Hawks losses, it is the defense that costs the Hawks more than their offense, but their defense played pretty well last night, especially after the first quarter. It was the offense that could not find its way last night. There have been plenty of games where the Hawks let their opponents have a big night shooting, but this was not one of those nights.
Atlanta’s offense could not find its rhythm all night long. The Hawks shot 33% from the field and 26% from three and it is hard to point to any good performances from anyone. Atlanta finished with a horrible 86.9 offensive rating in the game and a 42% true shooting percentage. Golden State has one of the NBA’s best defenses, but the Hawks offense was a no-show and they could not get shots to fall.
There is no need to panic about Bogdanovic yet because he has been a very good player for a long time and this is only his second game back from injury, but he has not been able to find his shot yet. Bogdanovic was 2-14 from the floor last night and 1-7 from three. He did not shoot the ball well in the Hawks’ win over the Kings on Monday. Again, it is not time to panic about Bogdanovic, but when he is not making shots, it is tough to have him on the court.
Additional Links
Atlanta Can’t Overcome Shooting Woes in 120-97 Blowout Loss to Golden State
