Hawks’ fourth-quarter implosion vs. Magic seals need for second play-in game

1. The Hawks did everything according to their game plan coming out of the locker room at halftime. They stifled the Magic’s primary scorers. They turned that defense into offense, making close to 56% of their overall field goals.

But then Magic guard Cole Anthony came off the bench, setting the offense up that pushed the Hawks to the limit. Anthony hit three 3s in the fourth quarter and dished four assists finding Wendell Carter Jr. for cutting dunks, as well as Anthony Black for a couple of 3s.

With the Magic’s offense pushing the pace, the Hawks just couldn’t stop them.

“I thought Cole Anthony, at that point in the game, really took the game over and scored was a barrage, and I thought that had an impact on the psychological too,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

2. The Magic needed to lean on their role heavily because the Hawks limited their top producers in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, who combined for 30 points.

The Hawks matched the minutes of forward Mouhamed Gueye to those of Banchero, while deploying Dyson Daniels as the primary matchup on Wagner.

Gueye followed what the coaching staff stressed he needed to do and kept Banchero in front of him. The 22-year-old forward forced Banchero to second-guess some of his shots or completely pass them up because the looks were cut off. When Banchero tried to take Gueye on in isolation, the Hawks forward forced the stop and giving them the chance to rebound the ball.

“I thought the other guys on our team did a great job of shifting, which helped him stay locked in,” Snyder said.

3. The Hawks’ frustration reached a high with just under five minutes to play in the game. Trailing by 20 with 4:47 to play in the game, Young went for a layup and got hit in the mouth by Black. After playing through the next defensive possession, Young drove to the basket and hit floater before he and Magic forward Paolo Banchero tangled up. Then Banchero pushed Young as he passed the ball to an official.

Young picked up a technical foul after the possession, then did not give the ball back to referees. It earned him his second and an ejection.

Following the game, Snyder said that Young addressed his teammates and owned up to letting his frustrations get the better of him.

“Obviously it is one game,” Young said. “I am not letting it (dwell on). I am not letting people think about what l am feeling and things like that. Obviously, I told them I was sticking up for this squad. I am not going to let the refs frustrate me like that in our next game. I know we got to win or go home next, so I am going to be ready. I told the team I am going to be ready for them. We have to go home and take care of business.”

4.Young finished with 28 points and six assists despite the Magic holding him scoreless in the first quarter. Young’s quiet first quarter allowed the Magic to open the game with a 15-point lead. But he found a way to pick things apart and get to the line.

“Later in the game they kind of (blitzed) me a little bit scatterdly, but they didn’t blitz me as much and early in the game,” Young said. “Obviously after watching film, I figured they would blitz me more. So it took me a few possessions, few minutes to figure out how they were guarding me.”

5. The Hawks managed to get the game within six despite making just four 3s.

“For us to win, we’ve got to shoot more than (21) 3s, and we had guys passing them up,” Snyder said.

Stat to know

The Hawks made just four 3s, their fewest 3-point goals in a game this season.

Quotable

“I think they have a bunch of talented players, but there are a lot of plays and moments that guys want to try and be more physical to the point where it’s not necessarily basketball at that point.” -- Trae Young on what led to his frustration.

Up Next

The Hawks host the winner of the game between the Heat and Bulls on Friday to determine if they make the playoffs.