It has not been an easy season for the Atlanta Hawks. From injuries to inconsistency, the Hawks have been are the heart of their own demise more often than not. That was clear from Trae Young’s comments following the Hawks’ 148-143 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
Young was also clear that he believes the Hawks can and will overcome some of the issues that have plagued them.
Against the Pistons, that included poor defense and missed free throws.
Young complimented the Pistons, and he noted the Hawks could have forced the ball from Pistons star Cade Cunningham’s hands. Cunningham tied Young with a game-high 38 points in what was the Pistons’ sixth straight victory.
“Just off the top of my head, just little things I think we did. They hit some big shots. I think we could have got it out of Cade’s hand, maybe, earlier,” Young told reporters after the loss on February 23. “We should have been doing from the jump, so that’s just maybe if we started out that way, it’d been a different result.
“We missed ten free throws again. Like that’s – those are free. So we gotta work on our free throws; me included. So those things, those little things you – five-point loss? We can win. So it’s tough.”
Another Dyson steal ➡️ Another Georges three
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 24, 2025
He's made 7 tonight ♨️ pic.twitter.com/Lwi7Nm3rq7
Young noted the Hawks failed to force second passes off of Cunningham’s dishes, resulting in open shooters far too often.
“We’ll learn from it,” Young said
The Hawks rank 24th in free throw percentage this season. That is their worst mark since the 2019-20 season, Young's second year in the league. The Pistons missed seven free throws, while the Hawks have been good there in the clutch so that is not the total cause for the Hawks' loss.
Atlanta was also +4 in the turnover margin. In the end, this game was lost on the defensive end for the Hawks, who have allowed opponents to cross the 130-point threshold 13 times.
That is the third-most in the NBA. They are 3-10 in those games.
Trae Young laments loss, preaches patience with Hawks' chemistry
“As frustrating as it is losing – especially losing again, to a team that's right there with us in the standings and something that we felt like we needed to win – we still have some new guys that we’re trying to get accustomed to playing how we play,” Young said. “We’ll get it right.”
The Hawks are down to 25 games to bolster their position for the postseason, which appears headed for a fourth straight Play-In Tournament berth.
In that sense, losing to the Pistons, who are 5.0 games up for the No. 6 seed – stings more.
“I felt like we needed to win this game. They’re a really good team,” Young said. “They’ve been playing really well, and I knew this was going to be a tough game for us. So I was getting ready for this game since the last loss, so. I can’t worry about this game no more. I'm focused on tomorrow.”
The Hawks face the Miami Heat in the second leg of this back-to-back. If the Hawks are going to get a win and reverse their fortunes – not only against the Heat but for the rest of the season – they must clean up the self-inflicted issues.