Hawks' shooting is as cold as Atlanta temperatures in loss to Pistons

Lauren Williams, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan 22, 2025

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ATLANTA — Like the rest of the city of Atlanta, the frigid temperatures infiltrated State Farm Arena on Wednesday. The Hawks could not buy a bucket despite attempting 38 shots from deep and it sucked the life out of their efforts to the quickly rising Detroit Pistons.

The Hawks fell 114-104, dropping their second meeting of the series in what could come back to haunt them in their hunt for the playoffs.

Here are five observations:

— The cold weather and ice that coated the roads on Tuesday night left some wondering if the game would tip off. The Hawks canceled their morning shoot-around and the team seemed out of rhythm as the game unfolded.

They struggled to get out and the Pistons took advantage on the fast break. The communication broke down and the Hawks did not rotate out in time to stop some wide-open 3s.

“From a defensive standpoint, early in the game, particularly our transition defense, there was a lot of run outs where we weren’t communicating and then not being able to make a shot,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “That always exacerbates things. You don’t get the affirmation of playing a good possession, and then you give up something on defense, and things spiral like that.”

The Pistons also burned them in the pick-and-roll, with guard Cade Cunningham finding center Jalen Duren for easy lobs at the rim. Cunningham finished with 29 points and 11 assists while Duren had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

— The Hawks, outside of Vit Krejci, couldn’t find the bottom of the net from 3. Krejci, who has averaged 11.5 points on 50.7% shooting from the floor and 46.5% from 3, has gained more confidence with the increased minutes over the eight games entering Wednesday’s matchup.

“I believe in the law of averages,” Krejci said. “I’m a better shooter than what I was shooting than I was at the beginning of the year. And I just knew it at some point it was going to turn around. So I just kept my confidence. I kept working on it.”

Krejci has started in the place of both Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher, who have dealt with injuries.

The Hawks wing has not shied away from looking to score, making three 3s through his first 20 minutes of action.

— While Krejci could find the bottom of the net, the rest of the Hawks collectively went 3 of 31 from 3. It’s the second time in three games that the Hawks have shot under 20% as a team from deep.

The Hawks shot a season-low from deep and they kept trying, attempting 38 3-pointers. They had stretches where 3s would not fall, including a 12-minute stretch that began in the third and lasted two minutes into the fourth. They also had a five-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, which Trae Young, who had 13 points and nine assists, snapped with 2:58 to play.

— The Hawks' shooting woes looked even worse, with sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic’s shooting slump continuing. Bogdanovic has shot a career-low 31.3% and has shot a combined 4 of 26 over the last five games.

He’s shot 0 of 8 from 3 over the last two games.

But the Hawks have confidence that Bogdanovic will snap out of his slump and find his stroke again.

“He’s probably the best shooter on our team that we have,” Krejci said. “And, I’m not worried about that. It’s great to have a guy like that on the team that has experience and he’s been through stuff like that and he knows how to keep his head cool. So, that’s what he was kind of saying to me (during my slump). So, I’m sure he’s doing the same thing right now.”

— For the second consecutive game, the Hawks opted to start Onyeka Okongwu in place of Clint Capela. The Hawks bumped Okongwu into the starting five in Monday’s matchup against the Knicks, playing in similar rotational minutes as Capela. They subbed Okongwu out of the game at the team’s first timeout halfway through the first quarter.

Off the bench, Capela tried to inject energy into the Hawks’ languishing offense. He scored 10 points in his first 10 minutes of action before chipping in another six in the second half to finish with a double-double.

Stat to know

6 -- The Hawks made a franchise low in 3s on at least 38 attempts. It’s the 14th time in NBA history a team has made six or fewer 3-pointers on 38-plus attempts.

Quotable

“We had moments where we were starting to play better, you know. And anytime it’s a 10, 12-point game, we’ve seen what that looks like.” — Snyder on keeping the starters in on the first night of back-to-back games.

Up next

The Hawks return to the floor on Thursday to host the Toronto Raptors.

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