Hawks run cold, fall to Pelicans

But the Hawks failed the exam allowing the Pelicans to run away with the game in the second quarter on a 19-7 run. They built up a 48-29 lead led by Trey Murphy III, who scored 15 of his 28 points in the second frame.

The Hawks looked to trap Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, which opened looks for some of the other Pelicans rotational players. Murphy found looks attacking the basket, but his teammates also kicked the ball out to him for shots from deep, one of which he banked in.

“When you’re shifting against whether it’s Zion or Brandon Ingram in some isolation situations and you want help when they spread out, you’re in a close-out situation, and you need to get out there,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said. “But some of those, you just have to try to get a great contest, which is hard with his height, and then I thought that bank shot took it out of us too.”

2. Though the Hawks allowed Murphy to go off early, collectively their defense remained strong through the first three quarters. They held the Pelicans to 53 points in the first half, spotting their big three of Williamson, Ingram and CJ McCollum just 19 points.

The Hawks also cut the Pelicans 19-point lead to 11 by the end of the first half to set up a chance for a comeback in the second half. Minutes into the second half, they cut their deficit to 54-46 off a pair of free throws from Dejounte Murray.

But they could not generate enough offense, scoring a season-low 65 points through three quarters.

3. Part of the Hawks offensive troubles came off trying to counter the size and length of the Pelicans, particularly in the frontcourt. Williamson, Ingram and center Jonas Valanciunas sealed off the rim when Murray tried to attack it.

Early in the game, it shut down the Hawks momentum and forced them to have to get back to defend in the half-court. When the Hawks did get stops, they did not get back out in transition quickly enough and had to play against the Pelicans set defense.

Per Cleaning the Glass, 73.8% of their plays came in the half-court, with just 17.2% of their plays starting in transition.

“When we get those boards, we really got to run, particularly against a team that is good in halfcourt as they are,” Snyder said. “And that’s something we got to continue to emphasize.”

4. But when the Hawks did attack the basket, collapsed the paint and kicked out to the perimeter, good things happened. When they tried to mount a comeback late in the game, they went 7-of-11 from 3.

“When we did that, we’re able to generate better looks with our execution,” Snyder said. “So, something we’ll keep doing and continue to take and get each other open, open looks and keep attacking the rim and breaking the paint.”

The Hawks ended the night making 37% of their shots from deep with Bogdan Bogdanovic benefitting. He made seven 3s on Sunday evening, ending the night with a team-high 25 points. It’s the first time since Feb.12 that Bogdanovic has made more than five triples in a game.

5. The Hawks got a few 3s from Saddiq Bey, but they lost him just two minutes into the fourth quarter. The team later diagnosed him with left knee hyperextension and will wait to see the severity after further evaluation.

But the team has struggled to keep its front court healthy this season, with Jalen Johnson currently out, as well as De’Andre Hunter on a minutes restriction. Size has hampered them in games much like Sunday’s matchup against the Pelicans.

Since Bey exited the game, the Hawks had to play Hunter, who has not exceeded 30 minutes, for 36 minutes.

Stat to know

Bogdan Bogdanovic passed Jason Terry (648) for the fifth-most three-pointers in franchise history after he made his third 3 of the game.

Quotable

“They did a great job not just on myself, but obviously being the point guard, Herb Jones, you know, first team all-defensive guy.” Dejounte Murray on the Pelicans defense on him.

Up Next

The Hawks kick off their West Coast road trip with a stop in Portland to face the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.