The Hawks once held a 23-point lead against the Kings, but it quickly evaporated in the second half and the defense was not the biggest culprit for the Hawks this time.
The Hawks were outscored 64-39 in the second half vs the Kings last night and it turned a big halftime lead into a Kings win. Dejounte Murray was 1-10 for two points in the second half, Bogdan Bogdanovic was 1-8 for three points, and the Hawks shot 28.9% from the field and 21.7% from three. They did not score in the final four and a half minutes of the game and let the Kings get away with a win in Atlanta.
The Hawks have the worst clutch offense in the NBA and it showed again last night. They have a bad record in close games and a lot of it comes down to execution on offense.
After the game, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder was asked about the offensive issues that Atlanta is having late in games and what he thought about the team’s shot selection in the fourth quarter:
“I thought we had some really good looks in the fourth quarter and in the third quarter, I mentioned that when they made the run on us, it was open looks and missed shots mixed with turnovers. Late, again, you don’t know where the shots are going to come and at what time, but open threes are good, getting to the rim is good, and playing off of each other, but whatever it is that we are doing, getting us organized, but then having a mentality is the biggest thing for us and that is our execution.
It is not one thing, it’s collective. It is not one thing or one guy, it is not one thing, we just have to grind through it.”
Hawks center Clint Capela was asked what the team can do to get out of the rut it has been in and start winning games and he gave a pretty honest answer:
“I mean, it just gets harder and harder to take because it sucks to lose like that. I mean especially tonight because I really do feel like we were better and I almost felt that we just… we almost helped them feel more confident and yeah we just have to talk to each other, scream at each other, I don’t know, but we gotta do something.”
Not only has the Hawks’s offense disappeared in the second half of games during their four-game losing streak, but Dejounte Murray and Bogdanovic have gone completely cold. The Hawks don’t have enough shooting around them to pick up the slack when those two go cold and in the last four games, they are a combined 20-71 in the second half of games. These are two of the best players on the roster and Atlanta can’t win when they play this way.
The Hawks will have a chance to snap its losing streak tomorrow vs the Wizards on the road.
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