Atlanta Hawks: Rapid Reaction to Heartbreaking 114-112 Loss to Nets

Vince Carter’s buzzer-beater glances off and the Atlanta Hawks lose a tough one to the Brooklyn Nets by a final score of 114-112.

One could be forgiven for taking in the scenes of a wild college basketball Saturday instead of watching the Atlanta Hawks take on the playoff-bound Brooklyn Nets.

If the reader is of that particular ilk, we at Soaring Down South are not questioning your Hawks fandom.

That disclaimer aside… WELCOME BACK JOHN COLLINS.

After missing the first three games of March and putting up “just” 18 against the Spurs his last time out, Collins came out and reminded everyone that this thing is not just The Trae Show.

Collins finished the night with an amazing line: 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting with 20 rebounds. It was the first 30-20 game from a Hawk since 1993.

Even with that phenomenal performance, Collins won’t be the headline from this game because…

That’s right, John’s curly-haired, passing-wizard buddy tallied up the first ever triple-double by an Atlanta Hawks rookie.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1104572222071558145

23 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. On a night in which he wasn’t able to locate the jump shot until the final quarter, Trae Young still found ways to impact the game in a major way.

Of course, I still haven’t even touched on the thrilling circumstances in which this game ended. Vince Carter had the look, but was unable to connect from deep on what would have been a game-winner.

When the shot rattled off the rim, one could just barely hear the sighs of relief from the tank-happy contingent of Hawks fans amidst the vocal groans of the arena faithful.

Speaking of tanking, this Atlanta Hawks team would do well to look hard and heavy for a perimeter defender in the upcoming draft (cough cough DeAndre Hunter). The explosive offense is there, we just have to be able to contain the D’Angelo Russells and Spencer Dinwiddies of the world.

Other Notes:

• I’m loving Trae’s development of the floater. When he gets going downhill off the pick-and-roll, that soft teardrop is absolutely deadly. It’s got a Dame Lillard-type feel to it when it comes off his fingertips.
• John Collins did his shattering of the box score while being matched up against one of the best young defensive big men in the league, Jarrett Allen. Impressive stuff from the second-year stud.
• Taurean Prince had a solid game with 13 loud points, but Kent Bazemore put out a dud when the Hawks really could have used him. 5 points and 0 assists in 19 minutes for the veteran.
• Brooklyn earns the 3-0 sweep over Atlanta
• Kevin Huerter with a 1-for-8 game and some not-pretty moments in crunch time. He’s a rook and will learn.

The Atlanta Hawks don’t have much time to dwell on the loss, they take on Anthony Davis and the Pelicans tomorrow at home at 6 p.m. EST. Keep it locked to Soaring Down South for all your Hawks news and analysis needs.