Atlanta Hawks: Rapid Reactions to a Rough Night vs. Memphis

The Atlanta Hawks faced off against the Memphis Grizzlies on the road and fell by a final margin of 131 to 117.

Coming off a 19-point loss to the Knicks on Opening Night just days ago, the Hawks traveled to Memphis looking to pick up their first win of the year.

Things started off shakily, and the Grizzlies got out to a double-digit lead in the first several minutes.

Lloyd Pierce wasn’t helping matters early, running some interesting lineups. With a squad of Jeremy Lin, Deandre Bembry, Tyler Dorsey, Vince Carter and apparent center Alex Poythress out there, the lead ballooned to 17 at one point and it looked as if the Hawks were in for another long night.

After a timeout, however, Trae Young came back in and started to feel himself. He had a bit of hesitation with the ball in his hands to start the contest, but he settled in and hit a three, then knocked down two floaters, which helped Atlanta get back into the game with a 9-0 run.

Taurean Prince also had a nice first quarter, scoring 15 with a couple of nasty backdoor cuts leading to easy lay-ins.

As it was all night, the defense was the problem here. Not only did the Hawks allow Memphis to make 64% of their field goals in the first, they committed 12 fouls, giving the Grizzlies 15 free throws.

Still, the Atlanta Hawks headed into the second quarter down just four points, and Alex Poythress hit a three to open up the scoring, which was the first bench score of the night.