Atlanta Hawks: Third Quarter, Turnovers Doom Hawks Vs Kings

The Atlanta Hawks we outscored by 23 points in the third quarter in route to their fourth straight defeat, 146-115 at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.

The third quarter has become a major problem for the Atlanta Hawks. The Sacramento Kings turned a five point lead into a 28 point lead, outscoring the home team Hawks 46 to 23 in the third quarter. This makes an unbelievable five times that the team has allowed 40 points in a quarter.

Kings point Guard De’aaron Fox scored 21 of his career high 31 points and dished out three assists in the third quarter. Trae Young was on the bench during most of the time when Fox caught fire. Fox had a monster game, finishing with a triple double of 31 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds.

The Kings rode the huge third quarter, in route to molly-whopping the Hawks by 31 points. This was the most points the Atlanta Hawks allowed at home in 48 years, according to Mike Conti of 92.9 The Game.

Turnovers again were a major factor in the Atlanta Hawks demise. The Hawks turned it over 22 times and 17 times through three-quarters. The turnovers led to a whopping 30 Sacramento points.

Trae Young was a major culprit, finishing with eight turnovers as he struggled with the King’s trap against the pick and roll. Taurean Waller-Prince and Jeremy Lin also added four turnovers each. Center Alex Len turned it over three times.

Young’s play wasn’t all bad as he finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and handing out ten dimes. Trae shot 6/13 from the field. Surprisingly he only attempted one three and did not make it. He made 2/3 attempts at the charity stripe. He was first in +/- among Hawks that played 20 minutes or more.

Jeremy Lin led a balanced, yet punch-less attack for Atlanta, scoring 23 points, many of them in garbage time. Lin shot a respectable 8/13 from the field but made only 2/7 three-point attempts.

Kent Bazemore matched Trae Young’s 14 points for second on the team. He knocked down 6/12 shot attempts and 2/5 threes. He racked up three rebounds and three assists as well.

Kent was visibly frustrated during the game, jawing and gesturing toward the officials before and after receiving a third quarter technical.

DeAndre’ Bembry added 13 points on 5/8 shooting, 1/2 from downtown. He also pulled down five boards and handed out two assists.

Alex Len scored 11 points and gathered six rebounds. Most of his damage came from the foul line making 7/10. He also made 2/5 shots from the floor. He failed to block a shot in the game.

Reserve shooting guard Tyler Dorsey dropped 10 points to close out the double figure scoring for the Hawks. He made 4/8 shots but only 2/4 free throws. Dorsey played a season high 17 minutes after rookie shooting guard Kevin Huerter left the game with a sprained right ankle.

Power forward Alex Poythress returned from injury to lead the Hawks in rebounding with eight in only 17 minutes. Alex also scored nine points.

Taurean Prince struggled for the third straight game. He scored only seven points making just 3/12 shots and only 1/7 from behind the arch. The Hawks desperately need Prince to return to his early season form.

The Atlanta Hawks will host the Miami Heat on Saturday November 3. Trae Young will have a tough and interesting matchup against point guard Goran Dragic. Dragic is a teammate of rookie Luka Doncic on the Slovenian National team.

Alex Len will have his hands full on the glass with center Hassan Whiteside. He’s averaging an amazing 15.6 rebounds in seven games. That’s nearly ten more boards than Alex Len, who leads the Atlanta Hawks with 5.9 per game. Whiteside is also scoring 13 points per contest.

Kent Bazemore will have the tough task of slowing Heat shooting guard Josh Richardson. Josh leads Miami pouring in 19.1 points per game. The Hawks will be looking to snap a four game losing streak. The team will also be looking for their second victory in the new State Farm Arena.

Coach Lloyd Pierce and the Atlanta Hawks coaching staff should focus on running more screens to free up Taurean Prince as he excels in catch and shoot situations.

The Hawks perimeter players as a whole must do a better job at taking care of the basketball. Trae Young must recognize and make the right pass out of the trap. The wing must make themselves available targets. When they get the ball they need to move the ball, rather than force a quick shot or heavily contested drive.

Coach Lloyd Pierce should seriously consider a shakeup of the starting lineup. If Kevin Huerter is ok, he should start. Tyler Dorsey should be his backup. Kent Bazemore should be the backup small forward and DeAndre’ Bembry the second point guard.

Omari Spellman or Alex Poythress should start at power forward until John Collins returns. The veterans Vince Carter and Jeremy Lin should certainly get minutes but not at the expense of the younger players, or the more tradeable pieces.

Coach Lloyd Peirce, a defensive coach by nature, must do something about this horrific tendency of allowing 40 quarters. He should start pulling guys that make multiple defensive mistakes until they get it right.

The main thing that we need to see from the young Hawks team, is improvement on the defensive end of the floor. Here’s to hoping that begins against the Miami Heat, starting with not allowing a 40 point quarter.

What changes should Coach Pierce implement in order to snap the Atlanta Hawks losing skid?Leave your thoughts in the comments below. ATL All Day will have more on the Atlanta Hawks, as well as analysis on all of the Atlanta area squads in action, and in the offseason.

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