
The Atlanta Hawks (34-35) had a chance to get above .500 and put some distance between them and the Charlotte Hornets, whom they were facing, for the nine-seed but fell 116-106. Coming in on a three-game win streak, they ran into a buzzsaw Hornets offense that was key to a two-game streak of its own where they averaged 138 points.
In that regard, holding them to 116 points on the night is a bit of a moral victory. But that wasn’t enough to overcome an offense that shot just 36.4 percent in the second half.
What’s worse is they could have gotten to within a game of the Brooklyn Nets who fell to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday as well. The Hawks will face off against the Nets in a little over two weeks.
But they will surely fall to them too if they continue with the things they did against Charlotte.
Nate McMillan noted that had more turnovers than usual and it hurt them. pic.twitter.com/zaaEeSWuej
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) March 17, 2022
The Atlanta Hawks offense fell off of a cliff in the second half vs CHO
The Hawks had a 67-62 lead at halftime and were doing well offensively. They were shooting 49.0 percent from the floor and canned 10-of-18 threes. Trae Young struggled to just two points on 0-of-5 shooting from the floor scoring via free throws. But he did have 10 assists to go with a pair of rebounds and a steal at the break.
He also had four of his six turnovers but, at that point, they had held Charlotte to just 5-of-15 triples to maintain their lead. They got outscored 54-39 in the second half, including scoring just 18 points on 28.0 percent shooting in the third quarter.