Picking three takeaways from the Atlanta Hawks’ loss to the Orlando Magic.
The Atlanta Hawks faced off with the Orlando Magic for the fourth time on the season Wednesday night, ending the season series in Atlanta.
The two were pretty much neck-and-neck all night, with neither teams really able to pull away. Orlando briefly took a 13-point lead in the third period, but the two kept it close outside of that.
They went into the half tied at 64 after Trae Young had a huge second quarter, scoring 20 of the Hawks’ 37 points in that period. The Hawks’ defense was incredibly porous in the middle two quarters, allowing 41 in the second and 39 in the third. They were able to keep pace for the most part offensively.
For the second straight game however they hard a hard time scoring in the fourth, and Orlando’s heralded defense showed up in the final period.
Jeff Teague and Bruno Fernando played crunch time minutes, leaving Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter on the bench. It’s a questionable decision from coach Pierce, espically with Evan Fournier plyaing like a start and the Hawks best option to cover him (Reddish) on the pine.
The Hawks scored just 25 points in the final quarter, losing by a score of 130-120.
The loss makes two straight for the Hawks, who had on their first two after the All-Star break. They move to 17-43, with their next game coming on Friday against Brooklyn.
Here, we’ll be taking a look at three of the biggest takeaways from Wednesday’s loss.