Chicago Bulls Hammer Atlanta Hawks 131-117
Recap
Earlier today, the NBA decided to postpone the game between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs because the Heat had trouble fielding a team.
Tonight in Chicago, the Hawks had 12 active players, 8 of whom are on 10-day contracts. Currently, they have the largest roster in NBA history. General Manager Travis Schlenk, the coaching staff, and the players all deserve credit for fighting through this. But at a certain point, the deck is stacked against you.
It should come as no surprise that the Hawks got demolished by the Bulls. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine cruised to a combined 45 points. Seven Bulls scored in double digits, while the team shot a scorching 61.4% from the field and 45.5% from deep. The game was never close after the first quarter.
A depleted Hawks roster was led by none other than Trae Young. The soon-to-be two-time All-Star scored 26 points and dished 11 assists. Clint Capela held down the paint without much help. The big man went for a very respectable 18 points and 15 boards. However, an unflattering clip of Capela went viral during the game.
The Hawks shot 47.3% from the field and 40% from deep. Not bad for a bunch of guys who were signed this week. Unfortunately, their defense was non-existent. Until the Hawks get back to full health (and perhaps even afterward), their defense will hold them back from serious contention.
Post-Game Interviews
When asked about the unusual circumstances, Hawks coach Nate McMillan said bluntly, "I'm not even going to go there. I'm really not. We got to play the guys we have, but I'm not going to go there with that."
McMillan provided his diagnosis of the lopsided loss. "I thought our guys were gassed. Clint is coming out of the protocol. Cam has been playing heavy minutes; he really didn't have any legs. This is Trae's second game back. Just heavy legs, you know."
As for the brand new players, McMillan offered a glimpse into the logistical nightmare the team is working through. He said there had not been many opportunities for practice or drawing up plays. "It's a challenge that I've never experienced, and COVID is something we've never experienced. But it's a huge challenge to try to rotate the number of bodies we have in uniform."
Clint Capela took to the podium and was visibly exhausted. "It's been tough the past couple games." When asked about his recovery from COVID-19, Capela confirmed he was still feeling the effects. "Yeah. It was hard breathing, coughing a lot. But yeah, breathing was hard." However, the 'Swiss Bank' did say he was improving, kind of. "It's getting better, I guess."
Almost an hour after the game ended, Trae Young was still heated. The point guard always speaks the truth and doesn't fear fines from the league, so he gave the media an amazing quote.
"It's crazy. What I was told, the reason we kept playing was because the NBA didn't want to stop games and postpone games. You see teams around, like the team we played tonight, they hadn't played a lot of games the last couple of weeks because they got a lot of games postponed because guys being out.
So, I think it's kind of confusing. We got three-fourths of our team out. I came to shootaround today, not knowing most my teammates. It's something that obviously, I'm the leader with Nate, and no one wants to make an excuse. I'm not the type to make an excuses and things like that.
But it's kind of frustrating when you look around the league and other teams got games postponed, not even canceled. Just moving them because of what's going on with all the COVID outbreak. We got hit hard by this COVID and it's just kind of frustrating not getting some games postponed."
The Hawks next game is Friday against the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Hopefully, they will have more players cleared from Health & Safety Protocols by then because their playoff seeding is counting on it. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.
Stats
Hawks Leaders
Trae Young - 26 PTS, 11 AST
Clint Capela - 18 PTS, 15 REB
Cam Reddish - 14 PTS, 2 AST
Bulls Leaders
Zach LaVine - 25 PTS, 5 REB
DeMar DeRozan - 20 PTS, 8 REB
Coby White - 17 PTS, 12 AST
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