The Atlanta Hawks’ Game 1 Mistakes are Fixable

What can the Atlanta Hawks improve in Game 2 against the Washington Wizards?

The Atlanta Hawks were defeated 114-107 by the Washington Wizards in Game 1 of their first round playoffs series. It is encouraging that Hawks lost only by seven points, considering they didn’t play good basketball for the majority of the game.

The Wizards played a great game, especially their starters, who scored 99 of their 114 points. The Hawks seemed just a step behind John Wall and company the entire day.

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Atlanta was consistently late on defensive switches, sloppy when handling the ball, and in no man’s land when playing pick-and-roles.

If it felt like déjà vu when watching Sunday’s game, there was nothing wrong with TNT’s broadcast. John Wall shot an absurd number of uncontested mid-range jumpers.

The Hawks did not move with much purpose on the defensive side of ball, and hardly ever stepped up on the dribbler when defending pick-and-rolls.

Calling out screens and committing harder is one of the easiest ways for Atlanta to eliminate open jumpers like this.

The Wizards’ went just 8-28 from deep, but it was not due to stifling defense from the Hawks. Plenty of Washington’s threes were open looks that just did not fall.

John Wall is one of the best drivers in the today’s game, and draws lots of attention from defenders not assigned to him. However, Atlanta cannot afford to fully collapse the paint and leave shooters wide-open beyond the arc.

Otto Porter Jr., Bradley Beal, Markieff Morris, and Bojan Bogdanovic are all capable of knocking down open shots at an efficient rate. The Hawks must give themselves a chance to close-out on shooters by staying somewhat attached to them.

Mental lapses and attention to detail on both offense and defense have marred the Hawks’ season.

On this play, Ersan Ilyasova has the ball at the top off the three-point line. Kelly Oubre Jr. is closely defending Tim Hardaway Jr., and is visible to Ilyasova.

Yet, he still tries to make the pass, which is easily stolen by Oubre Jr. for a fast break dunk.

Plays like this have no place in playoff basketball, and can be avoided by taking just an extra second to think.

On this play, Paul Millsap, Atlanta’s best defender simply fell asleep while watching John Wall dribble the ball. This allowed for an easy alley-oop to Markieff Morris.

The Hawks turned the ball over 21 times, and allowed Washington to grab 15 offensive rebounds. Washington capitalized on the surplus of extra possessions.

The Wizards put up 100 shots in comparison to 78 by the Hawks. It’s nearly impossible to win a game when shooting 22 fewer shots than your opponent.

Despite the shortcomings, the Hawks did win the total rebounding battle and shot 39 free-throws. Atlanta kept themselves within striking distance with less than two minutes left in the game.

A Taurean Prince three pointer made the game 103-108.

Next: Wizards Set The Tone In Physical Game 1

Washington earned the Game 1 victory, but Atlanta shot themselves in the foot for the majority of the 48 minutes. If the Hawks can play sharper and under more control, they can return to Atlanta with home-court advantage.