Video: Pierce Discusses Loss to Nets
With a chance to win two games in a row for just the second time all season, the Hawks dropped their contest with the Brooklyn Nets, 130-118, Wednesday night. Despite the Hawks' strong offensive showing, Brooklyn bludgeoned them on the glass, which propelled its offense and sunk Atlanta in the process.
"We didn’t rebound the ball well tonight at all," said Cam Reddish, who had a career-high 25 points in the loss. "They had a bunch of offensive rebounds and I feel like that’s what killed us. I felt like that was the biggest part, honestly, the rebounding."
Lloyd Pierce pointed to other defensive insufficiencies, including ball pressure, sticking to shooters, and corralling the pick-and-roll. "We have to be into the ball a little bit more with pressure. We have to pressure their passers. They come off and hit a bunch of 3s after timeouts. And that’s on the ball, the defender guarding the basketball."
In addition to a career scoring night, Reddish also had six rebounds and hit four 3-pointers. Though he didn't register an assist, he did find teammates several times with impressive passes. Trae Young finished with 39 points and 10 assists on 13-of-23 shooting, including 5-of-9 from 3, and helped set up 38 combined points from Alex Len and Damian Jones combined for 38 -- including a career-high 20 from Jones.
"[The Nets] play back in the pick-and-roll and keep their bigs way down the floor," Pierce said. "And so obviously Trae can get downhill and get to his floater, and anytime they want to step up and try and contest we can get our bigs behind the defense as well. I thought Damian specifically did a great job getting behind the defense."
The Hawks' offense scored nearly 1.17 points per possession, but with a defense too flimsy to oppose its enemy, the Nets managed to extend a nine-point halftime lead into a 12-point final margin. Four Nets finished with at least 20 points, including Garrett Temple, who finished with a quiet 27 on just 16 shots. Former Hawk Taurean Prince had 23 while Spencer Dinwiddie glided toward 24 and five dimes.
"It’s a tough team to defend," Pierce said. "Spencer Dinwiddie’s tough in the pick-and-rolls, with his ability to get downhill, and we just had no answer for that."
The Hawks will travel to Charlotte this weekend for a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Hornets.
