Hawks Dissected by Lakers 123-104

There was very little to write home about on this night for the Hawks, as they trailed for the final 39:14 of this game.

Atlanta also had a very hard time rebounding in this bout, as LA outrebounded the Hawks to the tune of a massive 59-41 advantage.

In terms of individual performances, let’s start with the marginally good.

For the starters, Taurean Prince had a game-high 24 points on 7 of 18 shooting, including 4 of 11 from downtown. Taurean added 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals with those points.

The Prince That Was Promised was aggressive going to the basket, and he seems to be most comfortable with the ball in his hands. With two ball-dominant guards behind him, that’s not the best fit.

Speaking of those guards, Dennis Schröder was hot on Taurean’s heels with 20 points on 8 of 17 shooting, and Kent Bazemore finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Baze seems to be the only Hawks who wants to play Bud-Ball anymore, as he always makes the right pass and finds the open man when he has the ball in his hands.

Another player who did that was two-way player Josh Magette, who, in only 4 minutes of action, looked to be the paragon of Bud-Ball as he swung the ball around to find the open man and was always looking to make the right play.

Magette finished with 4 assists, 1 steal and only 1 field goal attempt in 4 minutes of playing time. Even though Magette is critically undersized and his 45-game “two-way clock” is ticking, it would be nice for the Hawks to play him more – just to see what they have in the gifted rookie passer.

Isaiah Taylor continued a strong three-game stretch in which he’s scored double figures, notching 16 points and 3 assists in 20 minutes on this night.

Where Dennis Schröder used to be the fastest player on the roster, Taylor has seemingly sped past him in that regard, as Taylor can outrun pretty much everyone on the court. When given a sliver of space, he can slither past defenders and finish at the rim with aplomb.

The Hawks’ vaunted rookies, John Collins and Tyler Dorsey, had forgettable nights. Dorsey, especially, had probably his worst game as a professional – going an ugly 1 of 11 from the field and 0 of 4 from deep on the way to 4 points in 25 minutes.

Collins didn’t acquit himself much better, as his trademark finishing has fallen off of late. JC finished with only 6 points on 3 of 8 shooting with 9 rebounds (3 OREBs), 1 steal and 1 block. He also had a sweet dunk waved off due to a shot clock violation.

Rookies are going to have off nights sometimes, and teams are going to get blown out at home on occasion.

Next: 2018 Draft: 5 Possible Top-Five Picks for the Atlanta Hawks

Both of those hypotheticals came true on this night for the Hawks, and they can try to right the ship at home on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers at 7:30 p.m. EST.