The Hawks (6-23) competed with the Jazz (17-11) from start to finish, but their lead slipped away late in a 111-106 loss Thursday at State Farm Arena.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. The Hawks came close to stealing a win, but instead they fall to 6-23. They took an 84-83 lead into the fourth quarter and a 3-pointer by Trae Young, who led the Hawks with 30 points and eight assists, gave the Hawks a 96-95 lead with six minutes left, but the Hawks made too many mistakes in the fourth quarter (registering five turnovers) and their offense stalled just enough (making 8 of 23 shot from the field, or 34.8%) to let the Jazz edge them out. Two free throws and a 3-pointer by Kevin Huerter, who tied his season-high with 17 points, cut the Hawks’ deficit to 3 with 33.2 seconds to go, but two free throws by Donovan Mitchell, who led the Jazz with 30 points, put the Jazz up by five. Rudy Gobert, who had a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds, had a key block on De’Andre Hunter’s shot on the Hawks ensuing possession, though he missed four free throws for the Jazz in the final eight seconds. “We had a stretch in the fourth quarter, I think from (the seven-minute mark to the four-minute mark) where we just came up empty on a couple offensive possessions and they had a couple defensive strips… you have a couple of those little opportunities that just didn’t go our way and the next thing you know it’s a five-point game and (Gobert) misses a ton of free throws and you look back just figuring how to get those back, but our guys’ competitive spirit was great tonight,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said.
2. Two days after an atrocious defensive performance against the Knicks, allowing the worst offensive team in the league to score 143 points, the Hawks’ defense looked better against the Jazz, holding the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA (38.3%) to 25% from 3-point range (6-for-24), though the Jazz were missing guard Mike Conley, who was out with a left hamstring injury. What did the Hawks in, though, was foul trouble, with the Jazz getting to the line often and making 27 of 38 free-throw attempts (71.1%) to the Hawks 17 of 19 (89.5%) -- Gobert himself went 10-for-19 from the line as the Hawks tried to contain him.“It was the fouls that really gave them the second chance and gave them the opportunity to score that hurt us, but from a game-plan standpoint, taking away their 3’s which is a big part of their game, was tremendous, but the containment of the ball was the toughest part,” Pierce said.
3. Pierce refers to the fire and effort level the Hawks play with as “competitive spirit,” and they had that in droves after Tuesday’s letdown, even if the game slipped away in the final minutes. But the goal should be consistency, Young said postgame: “It was good to see that, but it’s just one game. We have to continue to do it. If we play that way, with that energy and effort, we’re going to be able to turn things around and win a lot of games. If we play that way, good things are going to happen.”
4. In a departure from the normal starting lineup of Young, Huerter, Hunter, Jabari Parker and Damian Jones, Pierce started Young and Hueter alongside rookies Cam Reddish, Hunter and Bruno Fernando. That group averages out to 21 years and 92 days old, which is the Hawks’ youngest starting lineup ever and it’s the fourth-youngest starting lineup in the NBA since the league started tracking starters in 1970-1971. With Evan Turner playing for the first time since Dec. 11 and Jones and Vince Carter sitting out, the Hawks’ rotations had a much different look Thursday.
5. Reddish’s game cooled off in the fourth quarter, but overall, he put together a solid performance on both ends of the court, adding 14 points, four rebounds and three steals. He has scored in double-figures in five of the last eight games. “Donovan Mitchell ends up with 30 points, but I thought Cam made him work and made him work from start to finish,” Pierce said.
By the Numbers
22 (what the Hawks were held to in the fourth quarter, allowing the Jazz to edge them out)
Quotable
“Try to build on at least the good habits we had, and try to learn from the mistakes from the last few minutes of the game.” (Jabari Parker, who had 23 points and nine rebounds off the bench, on what the Hawks can take from the loss)
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