Five Takeaways From Hawks Win Against Clippers
The Atlanta Hawks' annual California road trip ended with a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. The game was far from pretty, but a win is a win for Atlanta. Below are our five biggest takeaways from Sunday night's game.
First Half Fire
Atlanta fell behind 9-2 to start the game but went on the complete their best first half of the season. Thanks to uncharacteristically hot shooting matched with a stout defensive effort, Atlanta took a 66-52 lead into the break. The action was capped off by a pair of dunks from John Collins and De'Andre Hunter.
Third Quarter Problems
As we have seen so many times before this season, Atlanta blew their double-digit lead after halftime. Los Angeles played their best ball after the break, outscoring Atlanta 35-19 in the third quarter.
Atlanta immediately started settling for midrange shots, only attempting two three-pointers (both misses) in the third quarter. To make matters worse, Marcus Morris Sr. scored 11 of his 15 points in the period.
Trae Young shoots over Kawhi Leonard.
Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
Fight
The difference between last night and other disappointing games was the fight shown by Atlanta. Not only did they surrender the lead, but they fell behind by 11 points in the fourth quarter and almost lost control of the game.
Trae Young spearheaded Atlanta's late comeback. The All-NBA point guard scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including making 7-7 free throw attempts down the stretch. Last night's comeback can largely be attributed to the fight shown by Young.
Rebounds
Everyone expects Atlanta's rebounding to take a hit while Clint Capela is out. However, Los Angeles dominated the boards 59-43 last night. Even worse, they outrebounded Atlanta 21-7 on the offensive end of the floor, hence their 21-11 advantage on second-chance points.
Smart teams in the league are making a concerted effort at grabbing offensive rebounds. Perhaps Hawks head coach Nate McMillan prefers his team getting back on defense. Still, it is another area where other analytically-friendly teams are veering in a different direction than Atlanta.
Rotation
McMillan played nine players last night, and the second unit played exceptionally well. They spurred the first-half run and looked good throughout the game. Most notably, Jalen Johnson scored an efficient 13 points and received plenty of love from his teammates on the bench.
Additionally, Frank Kaminsky logged 11 of his best minutes of the season. The veteran center has been elevated into the rotation while Capela is out and did not disappoint, scoring four points and grabbing five rebounds.
