Atlanta Hawks: Surprising Positives from Total Beatdown vs. Bucks

Though the Atlanta Hawks came away without a win, there were a few positive takeaways from Friday night’s blowout loss to the Bucks.

The Atlanta Hawks got absolutely and positively smoked by the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, that much Hawks faithful should know by now. But if you didn’t actually watch the game, it is easy to assume that nothing went right for the Hawks. But alas, there were some good moments for the Lloyd Pierce’s young squad despite the 32-point drubbing.

So for starters, the Hawks lost this game almost right away, as falling behind 43-14 in the first quarter. Falling behind by 29 points isn’t the best way to open up a game. But in that opening frame Kevin Huerter was one of the few confident Hawks on offense. He didn’t do a ton usage-wise, but he converted both of his two shots in the opening frame, getting into the lane and finishing with a midrange jumper and a floater to finish over the top of the Bucks’ length at the basket.

On the same note, DeAndre’ Bembry shot 50 percent in the first quarter on four attempts and was shockingly the only Hawk to make a driving layup in the opening frame. He wasn’t afraid to drive to the rim and his efficiency was needed from the start. Bembry finished with 19 points in 22 minutes on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor, including two 3-point makes.

John Collins, who is averaging 18.5 points and 10.2 rebounds this season, had trouble with the Bucks length, and only collected 12 point, 7 rebounds and 2 assists on 44 percent shooting. But he racked up 6 free throw attempts, tied for second among the Hawks players in the game. He helped lead the charge for Atlanta in terms of challenging the Bucks inside despite the difficulty involved.

The Atlanta Hawks finished the night with 35 free throw attempts, incredibly impressive considering that the Bucks are fourth in the league, allowing only 21.1 free throw attempts per game.

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And on the playmaking front, the Hawks racked up 26 assists on their 37 field goal makes. Trae Young and Jeremy Lin both did a great job in this department. They combined for 16 assists and only 3 turnovers. And for Young specifically, he got his 12th career double-double with 13 points and 10 assists.

Young’s 13 points seem like something to sneeze at, but they are not. He only made one shot from the field in the first half but in the fourth quarter he did the majority of his work, going 2-for-2 from the 3-point line and knocking down two free throws. His first 3-pointer in the fourth period was impressive because it showed off Young’s growing patience. He could’ve shot the ball soon as he received it, instead waiting for his defender to run into the screen before stepping left and knocking the shot down.

Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce had some positive takeaways himself from the defeat at the hands of Coach Bud and co.

“What I’m encouraged by is when you look at Milwaukee, you see a team full of guys that have grown here in the city of Milwaukee with the organization…..guys are playing with edge. They’re the number one team in the league right now. They’re playing with an edge and we saw that tonight. We just didn’t have it. That’s part of growing pains and that’s part of our growth, to understand that you have to go through these things. It’s encouraging to see a group that had been through this come out and play with an edge.” -Lloyd Pierce, as told to Malika Andrews of ESPN.

The Atlanta Hawks play next on Sunday against the Miami Heat at 6 p.m. EST