Three Takeaways From Atlanta’s Loss to Golden State...

Three Takeaways From Atlanta’s Loss to Golden State

Three Takeaways From Atlanta’s Loss to Golden State Last night, the Hawks concluded their two-game West Coast trip. The Hawks

and the Golden State Warriors played a close first half

until the offense collapsed and Golden State prevailed handily. With talented point guard Trae Young absent for the previous two

games, Atlanta has now dropped three straight. Although they are only maintaining that position by a half-game,

the Hawks are currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

1. THE SECOND HALF OF THE OFFENSE COLLAPSED

What are the Hawks’ main lessons learned following yet another defeat?

Despite Golden State’s excellent shooting, Atlanta was down 69-68 at the half, and the Hawks were staying up with them. Jalen

Johnson was on the verge of a triple-double, Patty Mills led the way with 11 points in the opening frame,

and Bogdan Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey also had impressive halves.

But in the second half, that was different. While Golden State continued to shoot efficiently and did not slow down, the Hawks’ offense

collapsed, allowing the Warriors to win handily. The Hawks shot 34% from the field and 17% from three during the second half, but

were outscored 65-44. In the second half, Golden State shot 46% from three and 59% from the field.

You will almost surely lose when there is such a large disparity.

For their game against the Warriors last night, the Hawks only had 12 players available, and I may be being too harsh on their bench.

In actuality, though, Golden State’s bench outscored the Hawks bench 61–22, and one player accounted for more than half of Atlanta’s

points. Patty Mills scored 11 points in the first half, played a dynamic defensive game, grabbed steals, and made clutch baskets to keep

the Hawks in the game against the Warriors. While Mills can’t expect to score 20 points every time he touches the court, the Hawks

bench needs to contribute more to the team’s success given that he only scored two points in the second half.

Trent Forrest scored zero points, Onyeka Okongwu only managed six points, and Garrison Matthews had a difficult night, finishing

with three points on 1-7 shooting and leading the club in turnovers (-23).

It would be beneficial if the Hawks could move Bogdanovic and Bey off the bench once they are totally healed. However, players like

Mills, Matthews, and Okongwu will need to contribute more to the club until they get Young and De’Andre Hunter back,

or Atlanta will keep losing.

The Hawks only had one more turnover than the Warriors (11 to 10), but a big difference in this game was that the Warriors scored 22

points off the Hawks’s 11 turnovers, and Atlanta only scored nine. When you combine that discrepancy with all of the other issues that

the Hawks had last night in Golden State, that is a losing recipe.