Atlanta Hawks: Second Half Collapse Equals Second Straight Loss
Why the Atlanta Hawks Loss
Shot Selection
The number one reason the Atlanta Hawks fell apart in the second half against the Philadelphia 76ers, was shot selection. As I mentioned, Trae Young did a great job of moving the ball against the trap without turning the ball over.
Young did force a few drives that were blocked. He also shot the ball poorly for the second consecutive game. He was just 1/6 from beyond the arch. He seemed to rush his shot when the ball made its way back to him.
Unlike previous games, Trae was unable to use his ball handling abilities to draw any fouls.
The other Atlanta Hawks players often took quick shots when the ball swung their way. Other than Trae Young, no one moved the ball well. That is aside from Miles Plumlee, who was second on the club with three in ten minutes. No other Atlanta player had more than two assists.
During the second half against Philadelphia, the lack of ball movement resulted many missed threes, most early in the shot clock. The majority of those long shots were contested. Atlanta also forced a lot of contested drives, rather than moving the ball to get easy looks inside.
Atlanta Hawks leading scorer Taurean Waller-Prince had his worse game of the season, scoring just five points. He shot an uncharacteristically off target, 1/11 from the field and made just 1/6 from downtown. Veteran Vince Carter shot only 2/7 and was 0/3 from three-point range.
Off the bench, Omari Spellman made just 4/11 shots and 1/4 threes. DeAndre Bembry had a rough go from the field as well, knocking down just 2/7 attempts. He was 0/2 from outside. As a whole, the Atlanta Hawks shot just 37.2 percent from the field and 21.6 percent behind the arch.
The Hawks need to move the basketball to get better looks from the field. They are making the game much harder than it should be. It’s evident that the Hawks offense bogs down when the ball stops moving, guys go one on one, and shots are forced.
Rebounding
The Atlanta Hawks were slaughtered on the boards in Philadelphia. The 76ers out rebounded the Hawks 64-47, 16 to 10 on the offensive glass. Some of the issue was the bad shot selection. The double teaming of Joel Embiid also allowed Philly to grab more rebounds.
The Hawks big men also didn’t do a good job of cleaning up the glass. Staring center Alex Len had just two rebounds, both offensive. Vince Carter started at power forward, and only grabbed four rebounds. Dewayne Dedmon pulled down five rebounds, but none on the offensive glass.
Wing DeAndre’ Bembry again led the Hawks in rebounding, this time pulling down six. Backup center Miles Plumlee grabbed an impressive six rebounds in ten minutes. Taurean Prince and Omari Spellman added six rebounds each.
The Atlanta Hawks must get more rebounds from their front court. Alex Len has to rebound the ball, even when in foul trouble. If this recent trend continues Len will find himself removed from the starting lineup.
John Collins will be a major factor on the boards for the Hawks. Until John returns, removing Vince Carter from the starting lineup as I mentioned in this article, could give the Hawks a rebounding boost.