The Atlanta Hawks Must Find A Way to Start Games Faster

Atlanta is one of the worst 1st quarter and 1st half teams in the NBA

The Atlanta Hawks are off to a 4-3 start to the season and just had a four-game winning streak ended by the Oklahoma City Thunder. They possess one of the NBA's best offenses despite star point guard Trae Young off to a slow start this year shooting the basketball and the team could be better shooting from three-point range. The defense has been average and at times slightly above average, which is where the Hawks probably need to be if they want to be a serious threat in the Eastern Conference. 

There is one glaring problem that the Hawks have right now that they need to fix and that is how they are starting games. In five of the seven games they have played this season, Atlanta has been trailing at the end of the first quarter and in four of those five games, the Hawks have allowed at least 30 points. The worst first quarter came against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Hawks allowed 42 points and allowed them to shoot the ball very well from the field and from three. Atlanta finds them down early consistently and when they are not shooting well, they can't get back in games. 

In terms of 1st quarter points allowed (per teamrankings.com), Atlanta is currently 25th in the NBA, allowing 31.6 points in the first quarter, and the Hawks are 23rd in first-half points allowed (59.3). 

So how are the Hawks 4-3 while being so bad in the first half? Well, that is because they have arguably been the best second-half team in the NBA. 

Atlanta has been among the worst first-quarter and first-half teams in the NBA / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Hawks are 2nd in 3rd quarter points in the NBA and 1st in second-half points per game. Atlanta was able to come back from a 21-point second-half deficit against Minnesota earlier this season because of a 67-point second-half, including a big half from Dejounte Murray. The Hawks used a strong third quarter to overcome a deficit to the Pelicans last Saturday. The Monday night loss to Oklahoma City is the only third quarter in which the Hawks played poorly and it resulted in a non-competitive game. 

The Hawks are being recognized as having played well this season, but they could see a big rise soon for a few reasons. Young is having an uncharacteristically bad start to his season in terms of shooting and the Hawks as a team have not shot well from three and they are not playing well in the first half. All of those things have not gone well and Atlanta still finds itself with the third-best point differential in the Eastern Conference, behind only Boston and Philadelphia. If they can clean up their first quarter and half starts, Young's shooting gets to where it usually is, and the team starts hitting a higher percentage of threes, this team is going to be one to watch. 

Follow Jackson on X here: @jackoncaudell

Follow Hawks coverage on Facebook here: All Hawks