Three Takeaways From Hawks 136-126 Loss to Chicago

The Hawks have one more game before the All-Star Break

After winning six of their last eight games and starting to play their best basketball of the season, the Hawks hit a brick wall last night when they faced the Chicago Bulls. 

The defense collapsed against one of the NBA's worst offenses and both Trae Young and Dejounte Murray had bad games on the same night. Despite big performances from players like Bogdan Bogdanovic and De'Andre Hunter, the Hawks lost the games and in doing so lost the tiebreaker to the Bulls, who are one spot ahead of them in the standings. 

Atlanta has one more game before they head to the All-Star Break. They could use a win on Wednesday night against Charlotte to grab a little of the momentum that was lost last night against Chicago. 

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

1. This loss could come back to haunt the Hawks

As I already stated, this win for Chicago gives them the tiebreaker over Atlanta if it comes down to it. The Hawks would have tied the Bulls for 9th place if they could have found a way to win last night, but now Atlanta has to hope they can get hot and just pass the Bulls altogether. 

I think it is possible that after the All-Star break, the Hawks could really get going and pass the Bulls, but last night did not inspire confidence. While the Hawks have not been a great defensive team, they had been playing better in some aspects on that end of the floor for the past nine or ten games. Last night was a total collapse though. 

In the end, Atlanta could look back on this game and it not matter because they played so well down the stretch, but it could end up being the difference in them being the 9th or 10th seed. 

2. Bogdan Bogdanovic snapped out of his cold streak

For the past three games or so, Bogdanovic had gone cold. He stopped making shots and was not playing well on offense at all. Other players stepped up in his absence, but his lack of shooting was felt in losses to the Celtics and Clippers. 

Last night, he looked like the 6th man of the year candidate that he has played like all season. 

Bogdanovic was the Hawks leading scorer with 28 points on 11-16 shooting from the field and 6-10 from three. There was not a lot of good to come out of last night's game, but it was a good sign that Bogdanovic started to shoot the ball well again. 

Hawks Lose at Home to Chicago 136-126 Despite Big Performances From Bogdan Bogdanovic and De'Andre Hunter

3. Trae Young and Dejounte Murray could not find any rhythm

Hawks guard Trae Young vs the Bulls / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Young and Murray were not solely responsible for the loss last night, but the fact that neither of them got going did not help. None of the starters played particularly well for the Hawks, but Young and Murray are the stars and it is hard for the Hawks to win games when they both have off nights. 

This was probably the worst game that both of them have played since the season opener in Charlotte. Usually at least one of them has a good to-really game, but that was not the case last night. Young had 19 points and Murray had 17, but they shot a combined 10-31 from the field and 4-18 from three.

I would expect bounce back performances from them, but last night was rough. 

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