CHICAGO -- The Hawks have had several players return to the lineup since their last NBA Cup Group Play game. They looked to move to 3-0 in the in-season tournament but the Bulls had other plans and the Hawks fell 136-122 on Friday night at the United Center.
Here are five observations:
1. After trailing the Bulls by as many as 20 points, the Hawks cut the deficit to 11 with 3:25 to play in the game. But a pair of 3s, including one from the corner then another from the wing, from Zach LaVine all but ended the Hawks’ chances at moving to 3-0 in NBA Cup Group Play.
The Hawks started Friday’s game with a little more gusto than Wednesday’s loss to the Warriors. But their defense fell apart as the game went on, allowing the Bulls to go on a 17-5 run across the first and second quarters.
“They’re getting stuff in transition, and it’s really hard to guard shooters in transition when they’re spaced, especially when they attack in the open court, whether it’s LaVine or (Ayo) Dosunmu, (Dalen) Terry, those guys really run the rim,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.
2. The game blew wide open in the third quarter when the Hawks could not stop anything. The Bulls scored 41 points, led by Coby White, who sliced and diced them on 4-of-7 shooting overall.
White, as well as LaVine, stretched the Hawks’ defense to its max with their ability to drive into the paint and collapse. The two Bulls wings left some of their teammates open for some wide-open 3s that the Hawks were late to close out on.
The Bulls had multiple possessions where the ball touched the hand of every single player, forcing the Hawks into help situations and leaving a man wide open in the corner or on the wing.
“They got bigs that can shoot,” Hawks guard Trae Young said. “I mean, Jalen Smith came off the bench, he made four 3s and bigs can shoot, and not every big brings that type of challenge, and they do, and then they got guys that can space, and they just drive you. So, you’re always in like, a help mode, and then you’re closing out to the shooter.”
3. The Hawks just could not find scoring when Young, who scored 25 points and had 13 assists, went to the bench. They’ve tried to use a secondary ball-handler-by-committee approach for the non-Young minutes to varying degrees of success. They scored just 11 points in eight minutes between the first and second quarters without Young.
They used an 11-man rotation, with Kobe Bufkin and Bogdan Bogdanovic coming off the bench to help with some of the playmaking. They also continued to get some help from Jalen Johnson, who dished five assists and has averaged a career-best 5.3 this season.
“He’s one of the guys that I think has done a good job playmaking for us,” Snyder said.
4. While the Hawks struggled with scoring without Young, they had three players score 20 or more points. Young, Johnson (25 points, 13 rebounds) and Clint Capela (21 points, 11 rebounds) helped run up the score.
But the Hawks got a big night from Bogdan Bogdanovic, who knocked down four 3s in his third game back in the rotation. Bogdanovic looked at ease stepping into his shots, especially in the second half when he hit back-to-back triples to try to spark a comeback.
5. The Hawks fell to 2-1 in NBA Cup Group Play with their loss. The Celtics won their Group Play game against the Wizards, which tied Boston with the Hawks.
This complicates the Hawks’ hopes at advancing to the next stage of the NBA Cup. But they currently hold the head-to-head record split with the Celtics to remain at the top of Group East C.
They have another Group Play game against the Cavaliers, who are 1-1 in the NBA Cup through two games, on Friday. The Hawks will have to beat the Cavaliers to keep their run to the NBA Cup Finals alive.
Stat to know
93 -- Bogdan Bogdanovic has hit at least one 3 in each of his last 93 games, the second-longest streak in Hawks history behind Kyle Korver (127) and the seventh-longest in NBA history.
Quotable
“When I was younger, I was happy to score and lose, but you do it so many times that that doesn’t drive you.” -- Bogdan Bogdanovic on hitting four 3s in Friday’s loss.
Up next
The Hawks return home to State Farm Arena to host the Mavericks on Monday.
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