Takeaways from Atlanta’s 120-97 loss to Golden State

It was a night to forget for the Hawks in California.

The Hawks faced the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors in an evening game, and things did not go well for them. The Warriors jumped out to a 41-22 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Hawks offense failed to catch up with the Warriors and Atlanta’s record dropped to 7-9.

So what are the big takeaways from last night?

When the Atlanta Hawks have lost basketball games this year, you can usually point to a single quarter as the reason. They were outscored 38-17 in the third quarter in the loss to the Blazers on Sunday, scored just 15 points in the 4th quarter in a loss to Chicago and tonight against the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, Atlanta was outscored 41 points -22 in the first quarter. Golden State only outscored Atlanta 79-75 the rest of the way, but the damage was already done. Atlanta’s offense was nonexistent all night, and Golden State cruised to a 120-97 victory over the Hawks.

The defense was poor in the first quarter, but the offense was the main problem. The Hawks shot 35% from the field and 29% from three. Golden State, on the other hand, was 60% from the field and 46% from three. The Warriors bench outscored the Hawks bench 19-3. It was a really tough first quarter for Bogdan Bogdanovic, Onyeka Okongwu, De’Andre Hunter and Kobe Bufkin.

More often than not in Hawks losses, it’s the defense that costs the Hawks more than their offense, but their defense played pretty well last night, especially after the first quarter. It was the offense that couldn’t find its way last night. There have been plenty of games where the Hawks let their opponents have a big shooting night, but this wasn’t one of those nights.

Atlanta’s offense couldn’t find its rhythm all night long. The Hawks shot 33% from the field and 26% from three, and it’s hard to point to any great performances from anyone. Atlanta finished with a terrible 86.9 offensive rating in the game and a 42% true shooting percentage. Golden State has one of the NBA’s best defenses, but the Hawks offense was a failure and they couldn’t make shots fall.

There’s no need to panic about Bogdanovic yet because he’s been a very good player for a long time and it’s only his second game back from injury, but he hasn’t been able to find his shot yet . Bogdanovic was 2-14 from the floor last night and 1-7 from three. He didn’t shoot the ball well in the Hawks’ win over the Kings on Monday. Again, it’s not time to panic over Bogdanovic, but when he’s not making shots, it’s hard to have him on the field.

Additional links

Atlanta Can’t Overcome Shooting Woes in 120-97 Blowout Loss to Golden State