Five Important Takeaways from Hawks Loss to 76ers
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Last night the Atlanta Hawks lost their third straight game, this time to the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers. Once again, Atlanta blew a double-digit lead down the home stretch. Below are our five biggest takeaways from Atlanta's awful performance.
Rotation
Hawks coach Nate McMillan did not waste time shaking up his rotation again. For the second straight game, Trent Forrest replaced Aaron Holiday in the lineup (Forrest has played more minutes in the last two games than he had all season).
Meanwhile, Justin Holiday provided a spark off the bench, scoring 16 points. However, the older Holiday brother also had the worst plus/minus of any Hawks player.
In addition to playing surprising players, McMillan used odd lineups at times. With Jalen Johnson out, Atlanta doubled down with small lineups throughout the game. As a result, Frank Kaminsky has been relegated back to the bench.
Turnovers
Atlanta entered Monday night's game with the third-fewest turnovers in the league. For their many problems, Atlanta does a great job of controlling the ball. That was not the case last night.
Atlanta turned the ball over 19 times, and Philadelphia turned that into 19 points on the other end of the floor. Seven of Atlanta's turnovers came from Dejounte Murray.
Zone Defense
On Sunday night, the Miami Heat used the zone defense against Atlanta. It should not have come as a surprise since the injury-riddled team has employed the zone throughout the season. Yet, Atlanta was unable to overcome the gimmicky defense.
Last night, Philadelphia used the zone against Atlanta again. This time, Atlanta shot the ball better from outside (44.4%). However, it's safe to assume Atlanta will continue to see the zone until they can consistently beat it from outside.
Offense
All five of Atlanta's starters scored in double-digits. De'Andre Hunter led the well-rounded effort with an efficient 18 points. While it is good to see everyone involved, Trae Young sometimes appeared passive.
Young took 14 shots, his second-fewest attempts during a game this season. Additionally, he only got to the foul line five times which is well below his season average. Lastly, Young tried throwing an ill-fated alley-oop to John Collins on Atlanta's penultimate possession rather than take the shot himself.
I highly doubt the self-assured point guard is second-guessing himself. Instead, it probably had more to do with a desire to get his teammates more involved.
Chaos
Before Atlanta's penultimate possession, the play before it was just as ugly. Everyone in Wells Fargo Center knew Joel Embiid was taking the last shot for Philadelphia. Still, somehow, the perennial All-NBA center ended up with one defender on him - Dejounte Murray.
76ers coach Doc Rivers drew up a simple pick-and-roll that got Embiid the ball with a smaller defender on him in the paint. It was the perfect exclamation point on a chaotic and unorganized game by Atlanta.
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