Even with John Collins back in the lineup, the Hawks (6-25) fell to the Cavaliers (9-21) 121-118 Monday in Cleveland.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. With the game tied at 94 entering the fourth quarter, the Hawks went 5:27 without a field goal and found themselves on the short end of a 17-5 run. Despite trailing by 14 with 3:20 to play, the Hawks went on a run and were in a position to tie the game, thanks to a 3-pointer by Trae Young followed by a turnover and missed 3 by Cedi Osman.
The Hawks got the ball back with 5.1 seconds to play with a chance to tie it, but after inbouding the ball and trying to get open for a long 3-pointer, Young’s shot missed at the buzzer (he led the Hawks in scoring and finished with a double-double of 30 points and 11 assists). “We’ve seen that,” Pierce said of the run the Hawks gave up in the fourth, which put them in a bad spot. “It’s the same thing that happened in Brooklyn. You get tight. You get your confidence on the defensive end, you get your confidence taking pride in your matchup. We’ll find ways to score.”
2. The game’s biggest storyline was the return of John Collins from his 25-game suspension. He made his presence known quickly with 18 points in the first half and finished with a double-double of 27 points (12-20 FG, 2-for-5 from 3-point range) and 10 rebounds while adding two steals and two blocks.
Despite getting him back, the Hawks’ defense still struggled. “I feel like everybody’s extremely disappointed,” Collins said postgame. “I feel like the effort and energy we came out with tonight, we liked it. Obviously on the defensive end we could have been a lot better… I just felt like our team spirit was there, I felt like you saw that with the way we competed and fought back at the end of the game to try to make it a contest, but no one likes to lose.”
3. The Hawks gave up 71 points (the most the Cavs have scored in a half this season) and trailed by seven in a defense-optional first half before battling back to take a four-point lead off a Kevin Huerter 3-pointer with 1:54 to play in the third quarter. They couldn’t sustain it, though, and close out a winnable game, because they couldn’t get stops. The Cavs shot 52.1% from the field and 37.9% from 3-point range (compared to the Hawks’ 47.4% from the field and 35.7% from 3-point range). “Our ability to contain the basketball was just awful tonight,” Pierce said. “One-on-one defense, pride on the defensive end, they just played one-on-one basketball. They found defenders, went at ‘em… bottom line it just comes down to our guys defending their guys in (isolation) situations and we couldn’t get a stop when we needed it.”
4. The Hawks lost two centers in the game to injury. After an awkward landing, Alex Len went back to the locker room midway through the second quarter. He was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain and did not return to the game. Len was rehabbing a left ankle sprain in the preseason and tweaked it again in November, so this has been a recurring issue. In the third quarter, Bruno Fernando went to the locker room after taking an elbow to the mouth. He received six stitches on the left side of his upper lip and was available to return, according to the team, although he did not get back in the game.
5. Huerter registered a season-high 19 points to a stat line that included two rebounds, two assists and three steals. He was 5-for-7 from 3-point range - with four of those coming in the fourth quarter when the Hawks needed a boost. “I thought he was aggressive on the offensive end,” Pierce said. “He really helped us out in the fourth quarter. Made a bunch of big 3’s. A long way to go on the defensive end, just like the rest of our guys, but it’s good to see him make some shots, good to see him be aggressive.”
By the Numbers
23 (the amount of turnovers the Cavs overcame in the win)
Quotable
“They got into a rhythm and we couldn’t find a way to stop it. They were doing a lot of one-on-one stuff, and they’re super athletic. They know how to score, they’ve got guys who can really score the ball. They showed it.” (Young on the Hawks’ defensive struggles)
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