Peachtree Hoops: Hawks can’t crack 100 against Nets in comfortable defeat

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Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

The Atlanta Hawks suffered defeat to the Nets on Thursday night in the first game of a two game road stint in Brooklyn. This would be the first game after waiving Patty Mills and converting Trent Forrest to a standard NBA contract.

The first quarter was, by far, the ugliest of the game. The Hawks allowed five three-pointers in the first five minutes of play. Offensively, it was evident this team was missing their one-man army. The Nets immediately set off to an 18-4 lead.

Amidst the chaos, a serviceable example of the dysfunctionalty can be seen on this fastbreak. While it was undoubtedly an errant pass from Clint Capela, he should never be the one getting the ball in this situation.

The Hawks briefly showed life with a couple nice drives from Dejounte Murray,though he only converted three of his seven attempts in the quarter.

The offense continued to find nothing, and Kobe Bufkin checked into the game with 2:42 remaining in the quarter. He played unafraid, as usually seen, and attempted three shots. In these minutes, he knocked down a floater and delivered a nice pass to Bogdanovic for a three, though he was unable to convert.

The Hawks finished the first quarter with a 34-16 deficit. They made just six of 24 attempts from the field, and had zero makes from distance. With just three assists and four turnovers, the stats tell the whole story on the quarter. Meanwhile, the Nets had more three-pointers made than the Hawks had field goals, shooting 7-for-15 in the first quarter alone.

The second quarter wrote a much different story. The Hawks scored 34 points to the Nets’ 22 on 13-for-25 from the field and 4-for-11 from beyond the arc. This was mostly thanks to Dejounte Murray, who scored 14 points on just six shots. Late in the quarter, he nailed back-to-back three-pointers to narrow the deficit to just six points.

As for the third quarter, the Hawks opened the flood gates defensively. The Nets scored 38n points to the Hawks’ 25, nailing five three-pointers. In each quarter, the Hawks took less three-point attempts than we’re accustomed to, which Snyder noted post-game. They attempted six in the third quarter. Doing the damage were mostly Cam Johnson, who shot 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from three, and Dennis Schröder who shot 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for-3 from three. The Nets shot 14-for-19 from the field. The defense was far from perfect, allowing the Nets to shoot 67 percent from the field.

Bufkin once again finished the last few minutes of the quarter, similar to the first. He logged points on a layup, an assist, and a rebound. The Hawks entered the fourth quarter with a 19-point deficit.

The first possession of the fourth quarter for the Nets proved very telling. Walker missed a shot, and the rebound went out of bounds. Smith Jr. then had a layup blocked out of bounds by Wes Matthews, Mikal Bridges missed a three-pointer, and after an offensive rebound the Nets finally converted on a midrange.

The lead grew as high as 31 points, and it was simply out of reach. The quarter ended with the Hawks being outscored 30-22, with no chance at a comeback.

“We weren’t focused on the right things from a game plan perspective at the beginning of the game. Any time you get down, you know, whatever, 18 or 20 out of the gate, you’re going to make it really difficult on yourself”

Quin Snyder went into more details on the offensive failures, hinting at Trae Young not being there to create and how the Hawks could’ve been better.

“Triple handoffs, pick and rolls screening actions, all those different things that you have to do as a group to get an advantage in order to generate good offense.”

97 points is the second lowest scoring game for the Hawks this season, with the first lowest coming versus the Cavaliers on January 20th (95 points).

The Hawks will remain in Brooklyn to face the Nets again on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

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