The Atlanta Hawks have had an up-and-down start to the new campaign. Entering the night at 4-3, their winning record belied an, at times, disjointed offense and perhaps more frightening, a disinterested defense. Their 117-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets displayed not enough of the good and too much of the bad.
It wasn’t as though the Hawks got off to a slow start — something they have been prone to in the past. They scored 28 points on 40 percent shooting. Brooklyn just got out to a hotter one, canning 58 percent of their first-quarter looks for 35 points.
However, that lead was largely eliminated as the Hawks were plus-five in the second quarter and the teams swapped efficiency.
A two-point deficit despite Kevin Durant being 8-of-11 for 16 points at the half would seem to be a win against the favorite of many to come out of the East.
The Atlanta Hawks fell in large part because of a big third quarter from Kevin Durant
You live by the three, you fall by the three or something like that. A game after the Hawks spoke of simplifying their attack basically to drives and threes, it was an onslaught of long-range shots from Brooklyn that had Atlanta reeling in the third quarter.
This was after the Hawks experienced an outburst of their own from beyond the arc.
Third-year forward De’Andre Hunter led the team with 26 points on 90.9 percent shooting and a clean 6-for-6 from downtown. It was great to see after he had been 1-for-6 from downtown over the last two games.
The problem is that five of Hunter’s threes came in the first half as both teams shot over 42 percent from beyond the arc.
Kevin Huerter (2-of-2, 16 points) and Trae Young (2-of-6, 21 points, 10 assists) were the only other Hawks to connect on multiple triples, the latter hitting both of his in the first half.
Then, after the break, the Hawks went cold, knocking down 2-of-8 threes in the third quarter. The Nets were going 6-for-12 from deep at the same time, including Durant who hit 2-of-3 from outside en route to 15 points on 71.4 percent shooting in the third quarter alone.
The Hawks shot 42.9 percent from the floor while the Nets shot 54.5 in the frame.
Things didn’t really improve in the fourth quarter. Atlanta remained frigid from downtown, shooting just 28.6 percent on their three-pointers compared to 46.2 from Brooklyn.
For the game, the Hawks were 13-of-35 (37.1 percent) from deep while the Nets went 22-of-28 (45.8 percent).
John Collins and Clint Capela both recorded double-doubles and had another big-to-big lob.
It didn’t help with James Harden coming alive, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the final quarter after struggling for much of the night. The Hawks wound up outsourcing the Nets by seven points in the fourth quarter.
The damage had already been done in the third as they were down 16 entering the final 12 minutes of play.
Young’s 11 points in the first quarter gave way to Hunter’s 11-point second quarter.
Unfortunately, both happened too soon and the hosting Nets got the first win of the season series. There are things to clean up but there is no time. The Hawks (4-4) host the 6-1 Utah Jazz on Thursday. Utah hasn’t been nearly as efficient from deep to start the season but they are still near the top in attempts.
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November 04, 2021 at 05:19PM
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Atlanta Hawks give up big third quarter, lose measuring stick game - Soaring Down South
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