Three Takeaways From Hawks Loss to Hornets

Atlanta lost 116-110 on the road in Charlotte tonight

It was not the start to the season that the Atlanta Hawks wanted. 

Atlanta did not shoot the ball well and the defense in the fourth quarter could not get any critical stops in crunch time. The Hawks are now 0-1 after their loss to their division rival, but they will have a chance to get a win this Friday against the Knicks. 

So what are the key takeaways from tonight's loss to the Hornets?

1. Jalen Johnson has officially arrived 

This is the biggest takeaway of the game for me. Johnson looked comfortable in all facets of the game, from running the floor to scoring in the post, Johnson had the best game of his young career and finished with a career-high 21 points. Johnson shot 9-13 from the field and also had seven rebounds. 

DJ and JJ on the break ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/6Je4iWRhWi

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 26, 2023

Johnson looked great in the preseason and I picked him as the breakout player this year for the Hawks. I think he is going to be a real candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year. It is just one game, but Johnson delivered on the preseason hype that he generated and he might just be getting started on what he can do. 

2. The Hawks can't win if Trae and Dejounte shoot like this

Trae Young finished with 23 points tonight vs Charlotte / Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports

I don't want to sound like Captain Obvious here, but the Hawks are not going to win any games if both Trae Young and Dejounte Murray shoot a combined 7-33. The Hawks are built around their two star guards and if both of them have bad shooting nights, it is almost going to guarantee a loss. Young hit one three-pointer, but it came at the end of the game. He was not getting into the paint and hitting floaters either and it was just an overall struggle for him to put the ball in the basket. He was good at getting to the line, but it was not a 

Murray just had an all-around tough night. He finished with 11 points and six assists but did not have the kind of impact he is capable of. 

These are two of the best guards in the NBA and it is rare that they both have a game like this. When they do though, it is going to result in a loss more often than not. 

Hawks Lose in Season Opener to Charlotte 116-110

3. De'Andre Hunter had a rough start to his season

Throughout this game, I kept wondering to myself, where is De'Andre Hunter? Hunter was absent for a large part of this game and finished with nine points and four rebounds. He shot 4-9 from the field and 1-4 from beyond the three-point line and many of them were open corner threes (Hawks were 0-10 on corner threes tonight). 

Hunter was not terrible on defense, but he did not make an impact there either. In the preseason, Hunter looked comfortable pushing the ball up the court, hit open threes, and rebounded the ball well. None of those things happened tonight and Hunter could not find a rhythm. The Hawks need Hunter to make improvements this season and tonight was a bumpy start to his 2023-2024 campaign. 

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Follow Jackson on Twitter: @jacksoncaudell

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