Hawks Lose Foul-Filled Affair vs. Hornets

In a seesaw affair at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Atlanta Hawks were ultimately outscored 12-0 by the Hornets in the game’s final 3 minutes, led by the unerring clutch scoring of Charlotte folk hero Kemba Walker.

The two teams combined for a titanic 51 fouls leading to 57 combined free throws, and though the Hawks shot an excellent 15 of 30 clip from beyond the arc, the play of their starters let them down in this game.

In typical Hawks fashion, the starting lineup was utterly drubbed by their opposing counterparts, as the Hornets starters all logged double figures and outscored Atlanta’s starters by a muscular 96 to 73 margin.

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Among Atlanta’s starters, both Taurean Prince and Kent Bazemore had strong games, and Baze’s leadership shone through in the more competitive portion of the early 4^th quarter.

In what has become a familiar refrain, Prince had a bounceback game after only logging 13 minutes of action against the Raptors on Wednesday. Taurean notched 21 points on 6 of 13 shooting (3 of 5 from three) with 4 rebounds, 1 assists and 1 steal in 31 minutes.

The Prince That Was Promised was exceedingly efficient going to the basket and was able to draw fouls at will in this game, though, crucially, he was called for an offensive foul late even though Dwight Howard pushed him into the fray.

Kent Bazemore was the true star of this game for the Hawks. In what can only be described as a 3^rd-quarter collapse by the Hornets, Baze got red-hot from downtown and finished with a season-high 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting (4 of 8 from three) with 4 assists, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.

Kent looked spry off the dribble, which was good since he had to play considerable minutes as the Hawks’ primary ballhandler due to the lackluster, foul-filled minutes played by Dennis Schröder.

Schröder had one of his worst games of the season, scoring 11 points on 5 of 14 shooting with 2 rebounds and 1 assist. That alone would be a bad stat line, but when combined with 3 turnovers, 5 personal fouls and a game-worst -20 box plus/minus, you’re looking at an absolute clunker.

Though Schröd is having a great year overall, it was clear from the tip that Schröder was off as his trademark speed and finishing ability were nowhere to be found. In a game that Kemba Walker completely dominated in the final 3 minutes, it was a shame to see Schröder shrink so severely from the challenge.

As usual, Atlanta’s bench provided much of the offensive highlights in this game; of course, they were spearheaded by John Collins.

JC made the most of his limited touches (can someone please get my mans the ball?) by going 4 of 5 from the field on the way to 10 points, highlighted by this smooth putback dunk off of a Taurean Prince miss:

Collins stuffed the stat sheet in other areas, notching a typical 9 rebounds (4 OREBS) with 1 steal, 1 block and a +7 BPM. JC was also tasked with defending Dwight Howard for much of the night, and though Dwight’s immense size is difficult to stop on any night, Collins played him well – forcing him into numerous offensive fouls and a technical foul.

Collins also hit two three-pointers in a game for the first time in his career, and both of them looked terrific coming out of his hands. See for yourself:

Malcolm Delaney, pressed into heavy minutes by Schröder’s poor play and foul trouble, provided steady play and energetic defense during the Hawks’ comeback surge in the 3^rd quarter.

Delaney also scored 3 points, but he made the right play the majority of the time and finished with 6 assists, 2 rebounds and a team-high +9 BPM.

Mike Muscala was another primary defender on Dwight Howard, though he was most effective on offense for Atlanta. Musky finished with a season-high 14 points on only 4 of 6 shooting with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 fouls in only 13 minutes of action.

Muscala looks to be fully healthy after a nagging ankle injury early in the season, and it’s good to see him drilling threes (2 for 3 tonight) with ease.

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The Hawks are back in action at Philips Arena tomorrow against the Washington Wizards at 7:30 p.m. EST.