Atlanta Hawks fall to Miami Heat, lose 3rd straight
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Hawks fall to the Miami Heat at home Monday night, 100-88. This was the third loss in a row for the Hawks, as they drop to 14-12 on the year.
The Atlanta Hawks struggled with their shooting for most of their Monday night contest with Southeast Division rival Miami Heat, falling 100-88. Atlanta has now lost their last three games and sit at 14-12 on the year.
Atlanta has to figure something out, as the Hawks have now fallen out of eight place in the Eastern Conference. The team should make the playoffs again in 2016, but will need to play better if they want to continue their East-best ninth straight playoff appearance.
The Atlanta Hawks shot under 40% from the field tonight versus the Heat (39.3%) and were ice-cold from three-point range (24.2%). It didn’t help that Miami center Hassan Whiteside and the rest of the Heat out rebounded the Hawks 60-43.
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This was Atlanta’s first loss of the season within the Southeast Division and while only a 12-point defeat won’t necessarily indicate it, Miami clobbered the Hawks tonight despite the Heat playing on a back-to-back. Atlanta had an extra day of rest of the Heat after the Hawks’ blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night, but it didn’t seem to help the Hawks put the ball through the hoop.
This team continues to miss easy points in the paint and their inability to hang with good teams on the glass is a cause for concern, especially when the outside shots aren’t falling. Head coach Mike Budenholzer and his staff need to establish more of an inside-out offense that isn’t so reliant on jump shooting and rushed layups against solid rim protectors.
The biggest bright spot in the Atlanta Hawks’ game tonight was the terrific offensive game of small forward Kent Bazemore. After being put back into the starting lineup earlier today, Bazemore exploded for a game-high 28 points on 11-18 shooting, including 3-7 from three and a perfect 3-3 at the line. His energy tonight won’t go unnoticed as it kept the Atlanta Hawks more in the game than they should have been.
Paul Millsap was a rebound shy of another double-double this evening. He continues to play at an elite level in 2015-16 with 18 points on 6-12 shooting and corralling 9 rebounds. Al Horford had 13 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Dennis Schroder had 13 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals coming off the Atlanta bench.
Next: Al Horford's style of play hurting the Atlanta Hawks?
The Atlanta Hawks will have Tuesday off before hosting the hapless Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at Philips Arena. Tipoff is at 8:00 PM and the game will air on Fox Sports Southeast. Better luck on Wednesday against the worst team in the East. Let’s Go Hawks!