Takeaways From Atlanta's 109-106 Loss to Minnesota

There is only one game left in the regular season for the Atlanta Hawks after their loss against Minnesota last night and it is pretty clear that the Hawks are just wanting to get to next week's play-in game (games?) healthy. Atlanta played Minnesota close the entire way, but head coach Quin Snyder pulled his starters in the fourth quarter and let the young players go the rest of the way and they almost pulled it off. I would not be surprised if the Hawks rest their players tomorrow vs Indiana. 

So what are the key takeaways from last night's game?

1. Trae Young continued to look like Trae Young after his injury...

In his first game back vs Charlotte, Young played 20 minutes and had 14 points and 11 assists. Last night, Young finished with 19 points and seven assists, shooting 3-7 from three. He was making big shots against the NBA's best defense and looking like he will be ready to help this team try and advance to the playoffs. 

2. The Hawks left a lot of points on the court in the first half...

Atlanta only trailed by nine points at halftime, but they shot poorly from three and were 10-16 at the free-throw line. When you miss six free throws and are 1-11 from three at halftime against one of the best teams in the NBA, you expect to be down a lot more. The Hawks left some points on the court in the first half and it might have cost them down the stretch

3. The Hawks opted to not play any starters in the fourth and that was the correct call...

Atlanta has been locked into the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference and no matter what they do the rest of the way, they are going to have to win two games to get to the playoffs and face the Celtics. It was smart for Snyder to play the starters for three quarters because they have not gotten many chances to play together since the All-Star Break, but it was good to be able to sit them in the fourth quarter and let guys like Mouhamed Gueye, Kobe Bufkin, Vit Krejci, and Garrison Matthews more minutes. I would expect to see a heavy dose of minutes for those guys on Sunday vs Indiana.