PORTLAND -- The Hawks could not take care of the ball on Sunday, and they fell to the Trail Blazers 114-110 at the Moda Center.
Here are five observations.
1. The Hawks could not contain Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe.
Sharpe hit a 3 at the 24-second shot-clock buzzer, putting the Hawks down 109-108 with 1:02 to play in the game. On the other end, Dyson Daniels’ floater hit iron and Blazers forward Jerami Grant blocked Vit Krejci’s putback attempt. Sharpe, who scored 32 points (11 in the final two minutes), picked off pass from Daniels before dribbling out the clock, driving and drawing a foul under the basket. His two free throws put the Trail Blazers up 111-108 with 18.2 to play.
“He made some tough shots,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “I think they all got going off our mistakes offensively. Like I said, when we’re turning the ball over and they’re getting offensive rebound, it’s tough to defend in those situations and he’s athletic and he double stepbacks are hard to guard.”
The Hawks responded with a quick finger roll layup, but they fouled Sharpe again on the other end. The Blazers guard split a pair of free throws before the Hawks called timeout.
Young, who had been defended tight all game, tried to pass out of the trap. But Sharpe picked off the pass and then was fouled by Young.
2. The Trail Blazers hounded Young, deploying sophomore Toumani Camara as the primary defender. Camara picked up Young 90 feet from the basket on possession after possession. With 7:06 to play in the second quarter, Camara followed Young as he dribbled to half-court before pressing him.
Young kept trying to dribble past him, but Camara did not yield any space and disrupted the Hawks guard’s dribble. As Young lost eyes on the ball for a couple of seconds, Camara picked up the loose ball and took it to the basket for a dunk.
The Blazers played aggressive defense on Young sending double teams that trapped him on the sidelines that limited his vision.
“I gotta make better reads,” Young said. “I can’t have six turnovers or however many I had. So, I’m gonna get that better and take care of it more. But yeah, I think we just gotta be better whenever I’m getting trapped and just making plays out of that. Cause when we’re playing four on three on the back side and we have to score more than we don’t and then they’ll stop no stops trapping and it’ll get better.”
3. With the Trail Blazers aggressive defense, they sped up the Hawks’ attempts to get into their actions. It forced them to dribble into traffic in the paint where the Blazers loaded up bigs that disrupted passes down low.
The Hawks committed a season-high 27 turnovers that the Blazers scored 32 points off, including Sharpe’s game-sealing free throws.
4. It forced the Hawks to take Young off the ball and look at some of their other ballhandlers to create plays. They used Keaton Wallace as the primary ballhandler 10 minutes in the second half, from the midpoint of the third quarter to the midpoint of the fourth.
After the Blazers crushed the Hawks with a 38-17 third quarter, Wallace acting as the main ballhandler in the fourth took the pressure of Young. It forced the Blazers to spread their defense more and use more energy.
But the Hawks capitalized, going on a 13-2 run that cut the Blazers lead and tie the game at 99-99 by the time he checked out with 4:50 to play in the game.
“You can tell the work he’s put in from what he does out in court,” Young said. “So, he’s just being comfortable and he’s letting the work that he puts in show.”
Though Wallace ended the night without a field goal, his defensive impact made him one of four players with a positive plus-minus.
5. Things got chippy in the Rip City. With 8:49 to play, Donovan Clingan and Onyeka Okongwu tangled up after the rookie center grabbed a rebound. Okongwu’s arm was tied up in Clingan’s arms as the rookie center tried to pull the ball away.
Okongwu did not like that Clingan yanked his arm then Blazers’ Camara responded with words before Daniels stepped in. A kerfuffle briefly broke out and it only lit a fire under them briefly.
Stat to know
The Hawks have not won a matchup against the Trail Blazers in Portland since Feb. 13, 2017.
Quotable
“That I’m capable of anything I put my mind to, bottom line.” -- Jalen Johnson on what he’s learned about himself stepping into being more of a primary ballhandler.
Up Next
The Hawks head to Sacramento to face the Kings on the second night of back-to-back games.
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