Normally, a career night by the franchise’s star would be celebrated, championed as a huge accomplishment for him and his team.
And typically, when said team puts up 131 points largely thanks to the star’s efforts, that career night would coincide with a win.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, Trae Young’s career-high 56 points against the Trail Blazers on Monday came in a 136-131 loss, dropping the Hawks and their playoff aspirations to 16-20. Making the whole situation even tougher, Damian Lillard (abdominal tendinopathy – injury management) and CJ McCollum (right lung pneumothorax), the Trail Blazers’ dynamic duo, didn’t play in the game.
A game that should have been a triumph instead highlighted the problems the Hawks face right now — they’re not at all where they want to be.
“I don’t care about nothin’, besides the fact we lost,” Young said. “It sucks that I had this type of night on a loss because at the end of the day that’s all that matters to me. I just wish we would have won.”
The Hawks were shorthanded, yes, missing John Collins (health and safety protocols), Bogdan Bogdanovic (health and safety protocols) and Cam Reddish (right ankle sprain), to name a few. But so were the Blazers. They entered the fourth quarter with a five-point lead thanks to Young’s heroics, then lost it as he went to the bench to rest until the 7:40 mark, coming back out to a five-point deficit instead. They couldn’t keep things going without him, and down the stretch, they couldn’t muster a key stop when they needed it most.
It’s the same old song and dance for the Hawks, who have had those few issues for seasons now, though they got hot last season and turned a 14-20 start into an Eastern Conference finals run after the coaching change from Lloyd Pierce to Nate McMillan. If they want to accomplish anything remotely on the same level to that, though, it’ll require a gigantic transformation on defense and a close look at lineups and scenarios that have led to squandered leads at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Hawks now have the No. 2 offensive rating in the NBA (113.1), contrasted with the No. 27 defensive rating (113.0) and No. 28 plus-minus in the fourth quarter (-2.1). They’re No. 12 in the Eastern Conference standings, out of playoff picture and even the play-in tournament slots (No. 7-10).
“It’s frustrating,” Young said. “It’s not fun. Being one of the best offensive teams in the league, it’s a good thing, it’s a really good thing, but whenever you’re letting other teams score just as much as you, it’s not good for your team. We’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got time to figure it out. We’ve got to do it. And we’ve got got to keep the offense going the way it’s been going, scoring the way we do, but we’ve got to get more stops.”
COVID-19 and players entering health and safety protocols combined with injuries have caused plenty of roster turmoil for the Hawks the past few weeks, and obviously it’s hard to judge what the state of the defense would be right now with a fully healthy and in-rhythm De’Andre Hunter (right wrist injury recovery).
But, even when Hunter was playing earlier this season, even before the Hawks had to start signing replacement players via 10-day hardship exceptions to beef up the roster, they hadn’t shown the consistency on defense required to win at a high level. They regressed from what helped revamp them last season.
And, they’ll have to find a way to keep it together when Young heads to the bench, which inevitably has to happen at some point.
“We know how good Trae is,” said assistant coach Joe Prunty, who acted as head coach with McMillan in protocols. “It was an exceptional game. He did a lot of things. ... I would love to play him for 48 minutes. It’s not going to work that way. We both know that. So it was an exceptional game. I think they threw a lot at him, they changed up their coverages, changed up their assignment, but that’s what special players do. And there’s no question that he’s a special player who can do amazing things.
“Again, we talk about that four-minute stretch where he’s out of the game, maybe it should have been a one-minute break. That’s asking a lot, but again, he’s a great player. So we need him to be great.”
At this point, even general manager Travis Schlenk couldn’t fully appreciate Young’s stellar offensive night, given the team’s deeper issues at hand.
“Sure, sometimes, but during a game, especially a game, I’m a broken record here, but we play another shorthanded team, score 120-plus points, and we can’t win,” Schlenk told 92.9 The Game on Tuesday, essentially asked if he was impressed with Young’s feat. “That shouldn’t happen. So I understand what (Young) accomplished, and maybe one day I’ll look back and say that, but it’s a hard pill to swallow when your team’s not playing as well as you think it should. And maybe I need to lower my expectations for this team. Ultimately, all this falls on my shoulders. I put this group together and they’re not responding. So we need to take a deep look into this for sure.”
The Hawks have no sense of urgency or accountability on defense, Schlenk continued, going as far as to say maybe he needs to lower expectations for this team and hinting he’d be active at the trade deadline.
“Ultimately, all this falls on my shoulders,” Schlenk said. “I put this group together, and they’re not responding. So we need to take a deep look into this for sure. … Yeah, I don’t think there’s any reason for us not to be (active) at this point. Certainly we’d like to see the whole team on the floor together, but we also want to win, and right now we’re not doing that. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I just stuck my head in the sand and said things are great. I don’t think that’s doing my job.”
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