73-Point Explosion From Luka Doncic Is The Latest Embarrassment For The Atlanta Hawks Season

The Hawks have lost four straight and are now 18-27 this season

In case you have not heard yet, Luka Doncic scored 73 points in the Mavericks' win over the Atlanta Hawks last night. Doncic had one of the highest-scoring nights in NBA history and was hitting shot after shot and the Hawks would lose their fourth straight game.

Doncic finished with 73 points on 25-33 shooting and 8-13 from three. Dallas shot 60% from the field and 54% from three. Those are staggering numbers that should embarrass the franchise they allowed to happen. 

Coming into the game, everyone knew that the Hawks did not have a good defense. Atlanta is 28th in PPG allowed, 29th in field goal percentage allowed, 18th in three-point attempts allowed, and 26th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, they are 26th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 29th in effective field goal percentage allowed. Those are horrible numbers any way you slice it, but watching the game last night and really, any Hawks game for the past month, it is like the Hawks are not even trying anymore. 

cmon man, this is gross lmao pic.twitter.com/pTWUCFYRqc

— Chris (@gswchris) January 27, 2024

The best players in the world are going to have big nights and sometimes, there is nothing you can do about it, Michael Jordan had plenty of high-scoring games and Kobe Bryant dropped 81 on the Raptors, but the effort level on the defensive end of the floor was just embarrassing from the Hawks last night. They took way too long to try and double-team Doncic and trap him at halfcourt, even when they were supposed to double him, they were late with their rotations and just let him get whatever he wanted. 

Luka scored 73 but can we talk about this matador defense by the Hawks?! pic.twitter.com/dxlUSERvGK

— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) January 27, 2024

Luka deserves all the credit in the world for having the night that he did. It was one of the best scoring nights in NBA history and should be celebrated. For as much as it should be celebrated though, the Hawks should be ridiculed. This is how the Hawks have been playing all season. They don't get back in transition defense, they don't do much at the point of attack, and for lack of a better term, the effort is just severely lacking at all times. Last night it just resulted in one of the best players in the NBA getting 73 points. 

Last night it looked like the Hawks were a team that is ready for the trade deadline on February 4th. With upcoming games against the Raptors, Lakers, Suns, Warriors, and Clippers, it might get even worse before it gets better. 

Luka Magic Strikes in Atlanta; Doncic Scores 73 Points In Historic Performance and Sends the Hawks to Their Fourth Straight Loss

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