Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: Feb. 8 vs. Denver Nuggets
Slow Starts And Blowouts
As I noted in the opening slide, the Hawks have a tendency to lose by large margins in their losses. In the last few weeks they have losses of 25 points, 23 points, 26 points, 10 points, and 23 points. That’s not ideal.
In each of those games they found themselves trailing after the first quarter. In many cases they trailed by double digits. KL Chouinard unleashed this nugget the other day that shows how early their poor starts have been surfacing lately.
Hawks have been bad at one thing the past few weeks: Not falling behind 10-2 or 11-3 or 16-5 in the first few minutes. Tonight, it's 10-2.
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) February 7, 2017
It’s a bad sign when you make digging yourself a large first quarter hole a habit. I’m not sure if there’s explanation for why this keeps happening. These are professional basketball players that are coached by one of the best coaches in the NBA. There is no doubt in my mind that they are coming into these contests prepared.
Sometimes shots just don’t fall and the entire rhythm of the game gets thrown off. That appears to be what is happening to the Hawks. That being said, if they want to claw back towards the top of the Eastern Conference then these slow starts have to stop. Making a 20-point comeback every night is not a sustainable pathway to success.