Atlanta's Shooting Woes and Poor First Half Defense Cost Them In 112-102 Loss to Detroit

After only having one home game through the first 21 days of 2025, Atlanta was finally in front of their own fans at State Farm Arena and was hoping to bounce back from the loss on Monday vs the Knicks. It was an important game when it came to the Eastern Conference Standings, with the Hawks sitting at 6th place coming into tonight and Detroit just a half-game behind in 7th place. Detroit won the first matchup back in November and wanted to advance to 2-0 vs the Hawks in the season series.

They did just that and it was hard to pinpoint a bigger culprit than the Hawk's three-point shooting. Atlanta struggled from the opening tip when it came to shooting the ball and they ended the night with one of their worst shooting performances of the season. The Hawks were 6-38 from three (15%) and although Detroit only shot 35% from three, they hit twice as many threes as the Hawks, which is always a recipe for disaster.

Not only did they not shoot well all game, but they played really poorly on defense in the first half and ended up trailing by 18 at the half, a deficit they could not make up in the second, despite playing much better on that end.

Dyson Daniels led the way for the Hawks with 20 points and 10 rebounds, the only Hawk to eclipse 20 points. Jalen Johnson had 17 points, nine rebounds, and six steals and Trae Young finished with 13 points and nine assists. It was not Young's best performance by any means this season, but he has been able to bounce back before.

The big concern (and growing) for the Hawks is that Bogdan Bogdanovic is still struggling to shoot the ball. He finished with with two points (thanks to two free throws) and was 0-9 from the floor. It has been a struggle for most of the year for Bogdanovic when he has been on the floor, but in the last week or so, it has been amplified. Bogdanovic and De'Andre Hunter combined to shoot 0-13 from three tonight and if that happens, it is almost a guaranteed loss for the Hawks.

Cade Cunningham was the best player on the floor tonight and for the second time this season, he got the better of his matchup against Dyson Daniels. Cunningham had a near triple double, finishing with 29 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds. Another player who the Hawks have had time guarding has been Malik Beasley. After scoring 22 points vs the Hawks in the first matchup, Beasley had 18 tonight and was 5-11 from three. Ausar Thompson (16 points) and Jalen Duren (14) were two players who the Hawks did not see in the last game but both made a huge difference.

This loss stings for the Hawks, but the nice thing about the NBA is that they have a chance to quickly move on from it. They are now 22-21 and will face the Toronto Raptors at home tomorrow night and look to end this losing streak.

The Hawks kept the same starting lineup as they had on Monday vs New York. Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Vit Krejci, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu were the first five on the floor. It was the second consecutive start for Okongwu. Detroit started Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, and Jalen Duren.

The Pistons could not miss to start the game and it was their potential All-Star point guard leading the way. Cunningham scored seven of the Piston's first 15 points and Detroit was shooting 70% from the field. Luckily for Atlanta, Johnson was making highlight plays, including a posterizing dunk to keep Atlanta right in it.

JALEN JOHNSON GOODNESS pic.twitter.com/p0bpkhLAwB
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 23, 2025

The Hawks had the game tied 15-15 with 6:42 left, but the Pistons offense continued to have their rhythm while the Hawks could not hit a shot. Much like the first matchup back in November, the Pistons dominated the first quarter and led 36-26. Detroit was shooting 64% from the field and 67% from three while the Hawks were shooting 39% from the floor and 20% (2-10) from three. The Pistons bench was outscoring the Hawks bench 14-4.

It only got worse from there for the Hawks. They went on to play one of their worst quarters of the season in the second quarter and dug themselves a big hole that was going to be tough to get out of. They were getting outworked on the glass, for hustle plays, looked slow getting anything going, and could not hit a shot. Sometimes poor shooting happens, but the energy from the team did not appear to be at the level it needs to be at. Atlanta shot 1-10 from three in the quarter and 15% (3-20) for the first half. The Pistons shot 54% from the floor and 50% from three.

The three-point shooting discrepancy and losing the rebounding battle 29-20 were the big factors in the Hawks trailing 69-51 at the half. It was going to take one of the Hawk's better halves if they were hoping to pull off a comeback.

The shooting woes continued for the Hawks in the third quarter. Not only did they fail to make shots, they did not have an answer for Cunningham, who scored eight points in the quarter. Atlanta shot a ghastly 1-9 from three in the quarter, bringing them to 4-29 from the game. The Pistons offense was not super effective in the third, scoring 28 points on 53% shooting, but the Hawks could not make a serious run.

The closest thing to a run they had in the third was a 6-0 run after trailing by 21 and they cut the lead to 15, but could not take advantage of some open looks to extend that run. The Pistons responded and went into the fourth trailing 97-75.

The Hawks started the fourth quarter on a 14-6 run and the Pistons were shooting 1-9 to start. Atlanta cut to 12 points after a Young basket, but the Pistons responded with a quick 6-0 run to get the lead back to 18 for the Pistons with 4:16 left.

Quin Snyder opted to not empty the bench and let his guys fight back in the game and they did to close the game out. The Hawks were able to force turnovers and mistakes from Detroit, but it was not enough. Detroit won the game 112-102 and moved to 2-0 vs the Hawks this season, something that might be key down the stretch this season.

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