The Atlanta Hawks were put out of their misery on the big stage of Madison Square Garden following a 126-107 loss to the New York Knicks.

Taurean Prince led the way with 21 points, Trae Young finished his NBA debut with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four turnovers.

Nothing really clicked for Atlanta all night. The box score tells that much of the story, however, delving deeper than box score numbers is what we at The BBall Index aim to provide.

This season, each Hawks game will be recapped in an innovative way being dubbed as “3,2,1”. Three observations from the game, two questions that night’s game caused me to consider, and one prediction about the future of Atlanta’s season.

Three Observations:

1. Kevin Huerter is NOT part of the rotation

The Atlanta Hawks used three selections in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft. The first, on Trae Young–the potential face of the franchise. The last, on Omari Spellman–a versatile inside-out big man.

In between those two, Atlanta took Kevin Huerter, a 6-foot-7 sharpshooting wing from Maryland.

In the season opener, Young played 33 minutes, Spellman played 8 minutes, and Huerter played 4 garbage time minutes.

After missing all of the summer league, Huerter just hasn’t been able to capture any momentum leading into his first NBA season. His struggles were on display throughout the preseason and it’s clear that Pierce doesn’t view him as ready to contribute right now.

Of course, Huerter’s progression matters more for the future than it does for this season, but given what we’ve seen out of Tyler Dorsey and Deandre’ Bembry in their careers it’s disheartening that Huerter hasn’t been able to leapfrog them on the depth chart yet.

2. Taurean Prince forcing the issue

If you just looked at the box score it would seem that Taurean Prince was a diamond in the rough for the Hawks. However, the stretch of rough play that set the tone for the game was started by Prince.

As is the case with most opening night games, neither team’s offense was really clicking in the first quarter. Atlanta jumped out to an early 10-2 edge, but New York responded with a 12-0 run of their own.

That run was sparked by careless play from the Hawks, led by Prince who had accounted for three turnovers in the game’s first eight minutes.

With John Collins sidelined, and Young looking to facilitate first, Prince assumed that he needed to be the one to jumpstart the scoring. He was 1 of 4 from the field in the first.

The offensive woes only intensified from there on.

Prince developing his one-on-one arsenal is beneficial for Atlanta, but with Collins out opposing teams will be able to lock in more on him. The Knicks had Frank Ntilikina–their best perimeter defender–matched on him all night.

3. Defense is still a work in progress

Lloyd Pierce served as the de-facto defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia 76ers during his tenure there. After some rough stretches early (and the addition of a healthy Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons) the Sixers finished last season with the third-best defensive rating (103.8).

When he took over the reigns for Atlanta he made it well-known that he wanted to build a defense-first identity with the Hawks.

In the first quarter, things looked to be going par for the course. New York missed their first nine shots and finished the quarter with an offensive rating of 76.7.

It skyrocketed to 123.8 by the end of the first half.

Prince and Bazemore are the only true plus-defenders in the current starting lineup for Atlanta. Getting Dedmon and Collins back should help sway this some, but their first quarter defensive dominance was proven to be a fluke immediately.

With nine new players on the team, it’s going to take a while to cement a defensive identity. However, the effort cannot continue to be this porous in the future.

Two Questions:

1. Will the loss of Dedmon and Collins continue to have as big of a negative impact?

As noted above, not having Dedmon and Collins definitely had an effect on how the Hawks played. Atlanta did not look great in game one and that was due in part to the absence of their two best big men.

Both Dedmon and Collins are due to be re-evaluated this week. It’s likely that Collins will return to action first.

Dedmon has been out since suffering an ankle injury during a workout at the end of August. He spent the better part of September in a walking boot.

While Alex Len is an equal substitute in terms of raw size, Dedmon is easily the superior defender. Dedmon is able to corral guards on the perimeter and is more of a deterrent in the paint.

Getting both of those guys back as soon as possible is a high priority for the Hawks because an extended absence from both could lead to Atlanta digging itself a hole too deep to dig out of.

2. Will teams continue to press Young full court?

Like Atlanta, the Knicks also are looking to kick things in high gear with their pace and tempo this season. Unlike the Hawks, David Fizdale decided to implement soft full-court pressure all night long.

Neither Young or Jeremy Lin were particularly bothered by it, but it served the purpose of halting the speed at which Atlanta played for most of the night.

The backcourt pressure forced players to come back towards the ball as opposed to receiving an outlet pass and immediately flow into offensive sets as Pierce wants.

In college, Young’s biggest struggle came against West Virginia and the consistent hounding of Jevon Carter. There aren’t many players capable of wreaking havoc a la Carter and “Press Virginia” in the NBA.

Keeping someone on Young’s hip for the full 94 feet could keep him off kilter just enough to make him an inefficient scorer.

Take a look at his shot chart below, he would finish the game with just 14 points on 14 shots in his debut.

One Prediction:

1. If Collins isn't back after his re-evaluation, Pierce should pair Jeremy Lin and Trae Young in the backcourt

Where John Collins is really missed is on offense: The gravity he creates on his rolls and cuts to the basket open the floor for the rest of the team. Defenses can’t load up on Young, Bazemore, and Prince on the perimeter if Collins is drawing help defenders into the paint off screens.

There really isn’t a player on the roster that can replace that presence on offense. Instead, Pierce will need to get more creative in attempting to find ways to exploit defenses.

One way to do that could be by having Jeremy Lin and Trae Young on the floor together for stretches. In this game, the two never shared the floor with Lin operating as a true backup to Young.

Getting two players on the floor capable of snaking their way into the lane on any given possession could have a similar effect on defenses as Collins’ rolls. The defense has to collapse in on the ball to keep them from converting easy points at the rim, which in turns opens the floor for perimeter shooters. With Alex Len taking classes at the Dewayne Dedmon school of big man perimeter shooting, Atlanta could truly play five-out basketball.

Atlanta only scored over 25 points in one quarter–they put up 35 points in the third quarter–so the entire team will definitely be going back to the drawing board in an attempt to figure out a way to score efficiently.

Pairing Lin and Young together is currently the best path to this goal.