Three Takeaways From Hawks 123-121 Loss to The Raptors

Atlanta lost their third straight game on Friday night vs the Raptors

It was more of the same for the Atlanta Hawks last night vs the Toronto Raptors. 

If you were hoping that the Hawks would come out energized after the All-Star Break and start playing better, that is not what you got. Atlanta still can't guard anyone, Trae Young had arguably his worst game of the season, and the Hawks could not buy a basket in the second half. 

All of that and more resulted in the Hawks losing their third straight game and their record dropping to 24-32. 

So what are the big takeaways from last night's loss? 

1. The Second Half Three-Point Shooting Played a Huge Role in The Loss

The Hawks' offense was up and down in this game. They started off 1-13 from the field but turned that around into a very good second quarter where they scored 42 points. It looked like that was going to carry over into the second half, but Atlanta stopped making three-point shots at the wrong time. 

The Hawks shot 4-19 from three in the second half and no player hit more than one three-point shot. Saddiq Bey was 1-3, Trae Young was 1-4, and Bogdan Bogdanovic was 1-6. It was an ugly second half shooting the ball and when you lose a game by only two points, it is fair to say that just shooting a little bit better would have resulted in a win for the Hawks. 

2. Trae Young is still in a slump

Young has been one of the few bright spots for the Hawks this season. He deservingly got an All-Star bid and performed well over that weekend. 

Over the past few games though, Young has not been playing up to his usual level. Last night, he shot 4-13 from the field and 2-6 from three and this was his third straight game that he did not play up to his usual standard. Two games ago, he shot 3-14 in a loss vs the Bulls, and right before the All-Star Break, he shot 4-12 from the field and scored 12 points in a loss to the Hornets. 

The Hawks can only go as far as Young can take them and he will need to get back to scoring and setting up his teammates. 

3. De'Andre Hunter continues to play well off the bench

One of the questions I had about the Hawks coming out of the All-Star Break was about whether they would continue to bring De'Andre Hunter off the bench. Hunter has been playing well off the bench since coming back from his injury and he continued that last night. After a bit of a slow start, Hunter really got going in the second half. He finished with 22 points on 8-17 shooting and 2-7 from three. 15 of his 22 points came in the second half and he shot 6-10 from the field. As long as he is playing this well, it might be the smart move to keep bringing him off the bench. 

Raptors Defeat Atlanta 123-121 and Sends The Hawks to Their Third Straight Loss

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