Atlanta Hawks: Rapid Reaction to 108-94 Loss to Hornets

Rapid reactions to a win streak-ending loss for the Atlanta Hawks to the Charlotte Hornets by a final score of 108-94.

The Atlanta Hawks couldn’t make it three wins in a row and lost to Southeast Division rival Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.

Coming off a close, draining victory over the Miami Heat the evening prior, the Hawks were rudely met with a force field around the rim.

The Atlanta Hawks started the game 7 for 21 on shots in the paint.

Unable to buy anything easy inside, the young team was content to settle for pull-up triple after pull-up triple on the way to a putrid 11 for 44 (25.0%) showing behind the arc.

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That reliance on the three-ball has manifested itself in ugly ways so far this season. The Atlanta Hawks are 4th in the NBA in attempted three-pointers, but are a measly 27th in three-point percentage. Not the contrast you’re looking for.

Despite the poor shooting performance, the Hawks were in this one for much of the game. Charlotte appeared to have left their basketball mojo in the locker room for much of the opening period, and the Hawks jumped out to a 10-point lead before the Hornets finally woke up and responded with a 15-4 run to pull ahead 31-30 for their first lead of the game.

A big part of the home team’s spurt was big man Cody Zeller, who decided that November 28th, 2018 was the best date to do an Anthony Davis impression. The former Indiana Hoosier finished with 19 points on 7 of 9 from the field, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Kemba Walker chipped in 19 points of his own, and Jeremy Lamb led all scorers with 22 points. Miles Bridges, the rookie from Michigan State, had a couple statement dunks and looks like a keeper for the team from the Queen City.

There were few individual stellar performances for the visiting Hawks, but Kevin Huerter is certainly among those who had a nice night shooting the rock — a rarity in this particular game among his teammates.

The rook from Maryland hit four triples on seven attempts for all of his 12 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Trae Young led all Hawks scorers with 18 points and showed a little bit of life from downtown in the process, canning 3 threes. However, the point guard ended with more turnovers (5) than assists (4). That’s not gonna win games.

The Young-John Collins connection continues to build steam. While they did not appear to be on the same wavelength at times, the duo did provide a few glimpses at the possibility of what they can bring in the two-man game. That chemistry takes reps, and Collins is still getting used to running alongside the cerebral Young.

Quietly, Justin Anderson had an efficient, energetic night, registering 10 points and 8 rebounds. He always seems to be expending 100% effort whenever he’s on the floor.

We knew Jeremy Lin was going to be inactive coming into this one due to injury, but what was suprising was the absence of Alex Len. The Ukrainian giant was dressed and ready to go, but Lloyd Pierce said post-game that Len not playing was a situational choice.

Pierce cited that he felt like Len wasn’t a good match-up going against the stretchy Frank Kaminsky and the other Hornets bigs. Thus, he rolled with Dedmon, Collins and Spellman at the five.

However, considering how Charlotte butchered Atlanta in the lane, a solid rim-protector like Alex was sorely needed.

Nevertheless, in the words of Bill Belichick,

“We’re on to [Oklahoma].”

A couple cool storylines to keep an eye on will be Trae Young’s return to the place where he played his high school and college ball, and the rematch against former Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schröder.

5-17, baby. Trust the Process.

Keep it focused on Soaring Down South for everything Atlanta Hawks-related.