The Atlanta Hawks have played well for the last 11 games since they beat the Milwaukee Bucks on their home floor. During this time the Hawks have some quality teams including the Bucks, the Miami Heat, and the league-leading Phoenix Suns.
During this time they have played some really solid team basketball and ridden on the back of individual brilliance from Trae Young, De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter, and Onyeka Okongwu to name a few. The rest of the team are performing their roles well with Danilo Gallinari being a key player off the bench and, surprisingly, Bogdan Bogdanovic settling into a bench role really well.
So why, in three of their last four games, have the Hawks lost to the Toronto Raptors twice and the undermanned Dallas Mavericks in their most recent game? Well, there are a number of answers to that. Trae Young sat out the first game against the Raptors through injury and both of the two games against the Canadian franchise were the second night of back-to-backs.
There is a common theme through the three Atlanta Hawks losses.
In the three losses the Hawks faced tough, physical defense, firstly by the Raptors and then by the scrappy Mavericks. This put them off their offense, scoring only 100 points in the first loss against the Raptors, 114 points in the second loss, and only 94 points against the Mavericks.
When your offense has been the best thing going for you all season, then this becomes a problem. This is especially so when the opponent is able to hit the 3-ball with incredible efficiency. The Raptors hit 50.0 percent from deep in their first game and 63.0 percent from deep in the second game. The Mavericks, who have struggled from deep this season, hit 44.4 percent from the outside.
As the Hawks are looking to make the playoffs again, this is a recipe for disaster. Playoff defense is a lot more physical than regular-season defense with the referees letting a lot more go. Also, the opposition is better in the playoffs than in the regular season.
If the Hawks hope to emulate or better what they did last season they need to figure it out against physical defenses. The best way to beat this kind of defense is to play through it or shoot over it which are both things that the Hawks are capable of doing.