Peachtree Hoops: Hawks fall to Nuggets in Denver drubbing

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Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Not the night the Hawks wished for.

The Atlanta Hawks found themselves on the wrong end of a drubbing at the hands of the NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, 142-110, at Ball Arena on Saturday night.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored a season-high 24 points, while MVP candidate Nikola Jokic registered a triple-double of 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists. For the visiting Hawks, Clint Capela led the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds. De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18 points apiece.

Even with the scratch of Aaron Gordon from the lineup, the Nuggets were considerable favorites heading into this contest. Not only are they one of the championship favorites and playing at home (where they were 31-8 heading into the game), but the Hawks are of course still dealing with a plethora of injuries: Trae Young, Onyeka Okongwu, Saddiq Bey — notably all still sidelined.

The Hawks looked as though they would be against it early in the game with the Nuggets taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter, but a solid run to end the first quarter put the Hawks within seven points. When the lead stretched to as many as 17 in the second quarter, the Hawks responded and had a couple of opportunities to really make this a tight affair heading into the second half but failed to capitalize on their opportunities.

The Hawks had done well to limit Jokic offensively, but for the most part the Nuggets hit a lot of shots, so it made a mini stretch in the second quarter where the Nuggets were scoreless on three straight trips significant, especially as the visitors trailing by just 11 points.

The Hawks’ first opportunity that came and went was this play from Dejounte Murray, who steps out of bounds on this possession:

Murray was particularly displeased with the non-call, he felt he was nudged out of bounds.

After getting a stop on Jokic, the Hawks get a good opportunity for a basket through Bogdanovic, but the three is missed on this occasion:

The Hawks produce another stop, but cannot take advantage of it as the Hawks move the ball to the corner but Hunter misses the three:

The Hawks get another opportunity to get on the board, but Capela’s screen is deemed illegal and the Hawks commit the turnover:

Four opportunities for the Hawks to trim the lead below double-digits before the half — on a night where the Nuggets shot 60% from the field — proved costly in the moment but ultimately not in the long run.

What was more damaging all night long was the Nuggets’ three-point shooting: 23-of-41 from three for 56% — a combination of the Hawks being a little slow to rotate (such as this play where Murray trails Jamal Murray):

The Hawks leaving Jokic a little more space than perhaps ideal:

As well as some good Denver ball-movement, 38 assists on the night for the defending champions:

Both teams had strong third quarters on the offensive end, the Hawks shooting 62% for 30 points but couldn’t outdo the Nuggets’ 70% shooting for 42 points as the lead — which had been nine points at one point in the third quarter — stretched to double-digits for the final time as the Hawks began to lose control in this game. This trend continued into the fourth quarter where the lead finished at its largest of 32 points, not helped by a fourth quarter where the Hawks shot 25% from the field, but heading into the fourth they were already trailing by 25 points after a 10-2 Nuggets run to end the third quarter.

The Nuggets shot 60% from the floor, 56% from three for 142 points, so it’s perhaps no surprise that Hawks head coach Quin Snyder focused on the defensive perspective postgame.

“I don’t think they felt us enough defensively,” said Snyder postgame. “When they shoot it that well, they shoot it at a high clip maybe it’s 45% but not 57%, 58%. They’ve just got to feel us more, there’s got to be more aggression. It’s hard to do that when you’re so conscious of Nikola but your margin for error is so small. If someone gets behind you on a long pass it’s a layup, you’re not alert on a quick inbounds it’s a layup. It’s really difficult, you have a really small margin for error.”

While Snyder was pleased with his side’s offense last night, again, he couldn’t quite escape the defensive reality from this game.

“I thought we did some really good things offensively. We missed a few shots particularly in the beginning of the game, I felt we were playing pretty good. We didn’t finish in the paint as well as we needed to, some of that was their size, some of it was some buckets we’ve been finishing. Defensively, there’s some beakdowns you can’t afford to have. Someone comes off a screen from a handoff and you’re behind them and you have to switch that in an emergency situation and get a contest. Porter might sill make it, but he’ll make it less frequently. That still might not be enough if you don’t do some of those other things in a breakdown situation.”

“Tonight, we were really connected offensively and we had some opportunities we weren’t able to convert,” added Snyder of the offense. “When we did get some stops and got out I thought there were some good things. There’s more we can do defensively, just in terms of making them feel us and being more determined in every aspect: more ball pressure, more aggression, all those little things that you’re doing but you have to do it at a higher level.”

The Nuggets scored 142 points, and only 35 of those came from Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. Snyder described the challenges faced guarding Jokic and the Nuggets, despite Jokic scoring just 19 points on 6-of-13 from the field.

“I thought the first quarter we were playing pretty good, and you look up and we’re down 10, 12 points,” said Snyder of Nikola Jokic. “Again, if you’re not perfect, if you go under on a screen where you’re supposed to chase him he bumps back and hits a three. If he pops in pick-and-roll and you don’t switch soon enough he bumps back and hits a three. You throw the ball to him on the post and you don’t double at the precise time to get a rotation they score. Their execution is high level and he’s the head of the snake in that regard. They’re a really connected team, they where their shots are coming. You can tell they’re good alone and they’re great together.”

What helps separates a team like the Nuggets from the Hawks — especially last night — is their bench. The Hawks’ bench scored 24 points, Reggie Jackson and Peyton Watson combined for 31 points. Injuries obviously play a part for the Hawks but it was a night and day difference last night. In the end, the Nuggets’ bench outscored the Hawks’ bench 58-24 — the Nuggets’ bench doubling the Hawks’ I think was a fair reflection of the night.

While the Hawks scored 110 points, their offensive rating was just 104.8, their points total boosted by 24 free throws on the night. Dejounte Murray struggled in this one, scoring 14 points on 4-of-15 shooting, with Hunter and Bogdanovic attempting only 11 and 10 field goals respectively.

The lack of field goals was in small part due to the nature of this game and garbage time, in which Mouhamed Gueye featured in his first game for the Hawks since October 30th, only his third appearance for the Hawks this season in an injury-ridden rookie campaign.

All in all, a comfortable Nuggets win was about what you might have expected. Whether the margin was 20 or 32, doesn’t ultimately matter: the Nuggets were, as expected, clearly superior and didn’t even need a stellar night from Murray or Jokic to get the job done. Everyone will move on from this game without anything changing in the contexts of their respective seasons: the Nuggets march on towards the postseason as one of the favorites, their seeding unchanged. The Hawks march on towards a Play-In contest against the Bulls.

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The Hawks (36-42) are back in action on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat (43-34) at State Farm Arena.

Until next time...

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