The Atlanta Hawks had their winning streak on the road snapped at six games with their 101-87 loss to the New York Knicks on Christmas. It brings their overall record to 15-17 as they’ve now won just four games since a seven-game winning streak seemingly got their season back on track after a six-game slide.
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Trae Young missed his second game in health and safety protocols as was Kevin Huerter who had quite the journey upon testing positive.
Atlanta set a new low in points and had their second-worst night shooting the ball. They shot just 37.9 percent for the second time this season. Their next lowest-scoring game was a 99-90 loss to the Knicks back in November when they shot 35.5 percent.
Atlanta Hawks fans were left with a lump of coal on Christmas after loss to the Knicks
The Hawks also had to do without Onyeka Okongwu down low after he too tested positive ahead of a matchup that meant a lot to the home crowd. The bigger concern for the Hawks is that this is how they head out on a six-game road trip after hosting the Chicago Bulls, currently second in the East, on Monday.
John Collins had 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. But he shot below 39 percent from the floor, even though he was 3-of-5 from downtown.
His primary assignment on defense, Julius Randle, also had himself quite a day.
The former Los Angeles Lakers lottery pick and 2021 Most Improved Player for a game-high 25 points on 60 percent shooting and 6-of-9 from distance. Randle also pulled in 12 boards to go with three dimes and a takeaway.
It was even tougher sledding for the rest of the Hawks as only three others players scored double-figures.
Bogdan Bogdanovic was not one of them, scoring just eight points on 2-of-12 shooting and 2-of-8 from three taking away from his five boards and four assists.
Skylar Mays had 11 points on 45.3 shooting with two assists and two steals in an alright follow-up to his big bounceback in the last outing. But he only canned 1-of-6 threes. Cam Reddish shook off an apparent ankle injury suffered in the last game to finish with 10 points, six boards, three assists, and two steals but shot very poorly.