View Link<\/a><\/p>\nIn the end, the Heat shot 68% around the rim, making a total of 34 made baskets around the rim, which is a lot of baskets to concede at the rim:<\/p>\n
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The Heat eased away from the Hawks, and the game became a rout, a 128-97 loss at home as the chants of \u2018Let\u2019s go Heat\u2019 sounded at State Farm Arena. A disappointing return to State Farm Arena after the All-Star break.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the Hawks shot 45% around the rim (well below the 60% league average number), and Hawks head coach Quin Snyder was left to reflect on the Hawks\u2019 percentage at the rim, including keeping the Hawks\u2019 awareness on drives and creating better shots and the process of players continuing to learn with the Hawks\u2019 preferred tendencies offensively.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe talk a lot about having your eyes out,\u201d said Snyder postgame.\u00a0\u201cWhatever those shots are, not all shots at the rim are created equal, and there\u2019s times when we\u2019re in a crowd, or\u00a0we\u2019re trying to finish over somebody, we need to make better decisions in that area.\u00a0We need each other on offense,\u00a0and the possessions where that happens, you can feel them. We can generate better shots.\u00a0When we\u2019re not doing that, that\u2019s not our strength, and it\u2019s going to show with our shot quality. That\u2019s something that we just need to internalize, there\u2019s no shame in that. But we have to generate offense together,\u00a0whether that means running or movement, passing, and that\u2019s gonna be key for us.\u00a0We\u2019re at a point now where there\u2019s some guys that are learning that, guys are learning new roles.\u00a0The end game is the same: that\u2019s what it needs to look like.\u00a0When you see that, there\u2019s some really good possessions where we get good looks and\u00a0good things happen and then when we\u2019re not that connected,\u00a0the result isn\u2019t good enough to win a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jalen Johnson, similarly, highlighted that when the Hawks are at their best when they execute their gameplan, and admitted the Hawks did not do this last night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when we\u2019re consistent with the game plan and we come out executing the gameplan,\u00a0that\u2019s when we\u2019re at our best,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cI don\u2019t think we did a good job of executing the gameplan tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snyder alluded to the Hawks\u2019 lack of defensive consistency when the ball wasn\u2019t falling for them on the offensive end, when Snyder wasn\u2019t unhappy with how the Hawks were playing.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIn the first quarter we started out, and even though we weren\u2019t scoring,\u00a0we had a hard time seeing the ball go in,\u201d said Snyder. \u201cI didn\u2019t think we were playing poorly, offensively.\u00a0We hung in there with our defense, and there\u2019s a point when the toughness that\u2019s required to kind of\u00a0keep your focus and continue to sustain defensively when you\u2019re not getting\u2026 It\u2019s different, missing shots is different than not getting quality possessions.\u00a0When you don\u2019t get quality possessions, it becomes much harder to defend, and we teetered with that for a while, and then it slipped. Suddenly, it went from six, eight, ten, and bubbled up to high double digits.\u201d<\/p>\n
If by \u2018hung in with our defense\u2019 he means give up 70+ points in the paint, allow 34 baskets around the rim, many of them with ease, then, sure, you could say the Hawks hung in there. I\u2019d argue that were it not for the second quarter, and that run where Alexander-Walker and McCollum were hitting shots and brought the Hawks to tie the game, this game would\u2019ve been close to a 40-point blowout. On the balance of the first, third, and fourth quarters, this margin of victory I think reflects the game as a whole. The second quarter was, ultimately, the outlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the first quarter, we were kind of getting our sea legs back,\u201d said McCollum.\u00a0\u201cWe didn\u2019t get out and run, didn\u2019t get stops, a little sluggish.\u00a0Second quarter, we got out and ran, Corey got a dunk, got a transition three, got some rim pressure,\u00a0got some kick out threes from eyes-out.\u00a0I think that was the difference.\u00a0We got a little bit of defensive momentum, obviously 29 points in the first,\u00a028 in the second, so got a couple more stops and tried to prevent second chance opportunities. We tried to ride the wave of momentum but couldn\u2019t sustain it.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCollum, generally, held a more realistic assessment of the Hawks\u2019 shortcoming last night.<\/p>\n
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\u201cDefensively, I think we could have been better with our communication,\u00a0could have been better in pick-and-rolls,\u201d said McCollum.\u00a0\u201cI think they went to zone to start that fourth quarter,\u00a0I think that changed the game and they took advantage of some turnovers,\u00a0some missed shots \u2026 and I don\u2019t think we did enough to win.\u00a0Herro got off, he got too much freedom,\u00a0too much space in his pick-and-rolls, too much space in his pull-ups.\u00a0We\u2019ve got to do a better job of getting the ball in.\u00a0I think a lot of guys hurt us tonight, and\u00a0I think we didn\u2019t deserve to win this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a question alluding to the back-to-back situation the Hawks found themselves in, McCollum maintained that despite a lack of rest, the Heat were able to impose themselves easily in this game to take a deserved victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to go to sleep before 3 A.M. last night, but they beat us,\u00a0it is what it is,\u201d said McCollum.\u00a0\u201cThey came out, they played better than us.\u00a0They got off to a good start; it was up 8-0.\u00a0They executed better than us, they got points in transition, they got threes,\u00a0they got rim pressure, they did whatever they wanted tonight. So back-to-back or not, they did enough to win, we didn\u2019t do enough to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Individually, there were some solid offensive games from Okongwu (22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, and 4-of-5 from three), Alexander-Walker (20 points on 8-of-18 shooting), and McCollum (20 points on 8-of-16 from the field). However, struggles from Dyson Daniels (four points on 2-of-7 shooting), and Zaccharie Risacher had a particularly rough game on both sides of the ball (and shot 1-of-8 from the field) which was far from ideal. However, Jalen Johnson shot a woeful 6-of-22 from the field, attempting often to get inside and draw contact and fouls\/free throws, but didn\u2019t receive a lot of the calls he wanted.<\/p>\n
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While Johnson registered a triple-double (16 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists), he was very much aware of his poor game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really care for no triple-double, I played terrible tonight,\u201d said Johnson.\u00a0\u201cI just got to be better, and I just got to be better for my teammates,\u00a0but we have another chance on Sunday to regroup and hopefully string together some wins.\u00a0We\u2019re home for quite, quite a long stretch, so, the chances are right in front of us. We just got to go out there and get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson registered just two free throw attempts in this game, a stark contrast to the 16 attempts he took against the Sixers on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are two physical teams,\u201d said Johnson when asked about the free throw disparity.\u00a0\u201cSo last night it was just, it\u2019s kind of different with the whistle. Tonight I just try to keep that same mentality and trying to be aggressive. I didn\u2019t draw as many fouls as I would like and get some easy ones going early \u2026 this is something you got to adjust to and more importantly, just continue to play through.\u00a0They\u2019re going to see what they see and they\u2019re human too and they make mistakes. I just got to continue to play through all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Johnson didn\u2019t have a great offensive game, obviously, and while he took some tough shots in traffic, nights like this can happen. While the offense for the Hawks obviously not great (shooting 38% from the field), the defense was of greater concern as they conceded 128 points on 52% shooting. Not to beat a dead horse, it\u2019s the defensive side of the ball you want to see more from Johnson, and where\u2019s so much more capable than he has shown. Johnson\u2019s offense will be fine, and while I think a triple-double isn\u2019t reflective of a good game but instead says a lot to say how impactful he can be despite playing poorly offensively.<\/p>\n
All in all, a tough loss for the Hawks. On paper, probably not an unexpected loss on the second night of a back-to-back, but when you watch it unfold, I think it becomes a lot more disappointing.<\/p>\n
The defensive effort was really poor and was difficult to watch at times. Miami is good at driving the ball and getting out in transition \u2014 a nightmare if, for example, the opposition is shooting poorly, like the Hawks did last night \u2014 but against a team that the Hawks are actually looking to compete with and jostle for seeding, the urgency required was absent. It\u2019s one thing to compete and come up short, but the lack of urgency was of greater concern.<\/p>\n
The Heat now lead the season-series 2-1, with the last matchup coming on the last day of the regular season. The Hawks, however, may not get close enough for that matter after that loss, now 3.5 games adrift of the Heat for the 8-seed. Not impossible to turnaround, but certainly a challenge.<\/p>\n
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Good news for the Hawks (27-31), however, is that they\u2019ve got plenty of home games that aren\u2019t back-to-backs, and beginning with the Brooklyn Nets (15-40) at State Farm Arena on Sunday afternoon. A good opportunity for a bounce back at the very least for the hosts.<\/p>\n
Until next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Hawks returned to State Farm Arena to begin a significant stretch of home games but fell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3778],"tags":[208,1179,7,247,7046,491,206,144,4959,2990,981,295,189,3881,6,379,558,493,2248,678,96,6433,5291,1176,492,1246],"class_list":["post-616676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami-heat","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-basketball","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-cj-mccollum","tag-davion-mitchell","tag-dyson-daniels","tag-heat","tag-jaime-jaquez-jr","tag-jalen-johnson","tag-kelel-ware","tag-miami","tag-miami-heat","tag-miamiheat","tag-nba","tag-nickeil-alexander-walker","tag-norman-powell","tag-onyeka-okongwu","tag-pelle-larsson","tag-philadelphia","tag-sixers","tag-state-farm-arena","tag-the-hawks","tag-the-heat","tag-tyler-herro","tag-zaccharie-risacher"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116111341348495792","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}