Atlanta Hawks: 3 Takeaways From Tough Road Loss to Sacramento Kings
On Wednesday night, the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Sacramento Kings, getting blown out by 22 points at the Golden 1 Center.
The Hawks went into Wednesday’s matchup with the Kings with a 2-1 record on their current seven-game road trip. That great start on this road stretch was sparked by Trae Young’s great play, averaging 21 points and 8.4 assists per game over his last five games. But despite a hot start from Young (playmaking-wise) and John Collins, the Hawks fell apart quickly in this game.
The first quarter was exactly what you would expect in a game between the top two teams in the league in terms of pace. The Hawks and Kings combined for 63 points in the first quarter and both teams scorched the nets. In that first period, Atlanta shot a sizzling 60 percent from the field, while the Kings weren’t that far behind at 54.2 percent.
However, the Hawks would cool off in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Kings would continue to pour on the points as Atlanta’s carelessness with the ball and lack of defensive pressure—especially at the rim—allowed them to get whatever they wanted.
After 4/4 shooting from the field in the 1st quarter, Collins went 1/11 from the second quarter through the end of the game. His cold shooting night derailed the Atlanta Hawks offense on the evening. As an alternative, the offense started to use more Young-Alex Len pick-and-rolls as the game wore on. But despite solid contributions on offense from Len (13 points) and all of the Hawks wing players, this game was never in doubt.
The Kings are a transition team that you have to try to make execute in the halfcourt, if you want to have the best chance of beating them. The Atlanta Hawks gave up 26 fastbreak points, 19 second chance points and were outscored by 36 points in the paint. The Kings beat the Hawks at their own game and much more.
Though the Hawks were coming off of a impressive road win over the Clippers, this loss hurts because of how thoroughly the Kings controlled the action. That being said, Young played an awesome game and the Hawks actually had solid positives on the night as well.
Here are three takeaways from the Atlanta Hawks tough road loss to the Kings.