Hawks Sloppy Play Costs Them in Ugly Loss to Bulls

The winning streak is over as the Atlanta Hawks lost an ugly game 97-85 to the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks shot a horrendous 32.1 percent from the field and committed 22 turnovers en route to letting a very winnable game slip through their hands.

Three Observations

1. Dewayne Dedmon needs to start AND finish games

26 minutes. 13 points. 13 rebounds. 5 blocks. Plus 18. That was Dewayne Dedmon’s stat line in last night’s 12-point loss to the Bulls.

With the Bulls inexplicably (read: tanking) keeping Robin Lopez in his warmups all night, that left rookie Wendell Carter Jr. and career reserve Cristiano Felicio for Dedmon to dominate the minutes.

Dedmon was one of the best players for the Hawks last season, and he looks like he is beginning to round into form once more after returning from an offseason injury. He not only fortifies Atlanta’s interior defense, but he brings another perimeter threat to the lineup.

Boasting a B- BBall Index Perimeter Shooting grade (and a B+ compared to Bigs with 1500+ minutes played), Dedmon shot 35.5 percent on 141 three-point attempts last year. Through two games, Dedmon is already at 40 percent.

We saw in the preseason that Alex Len was trying to bring an outside shot to his game, but he’s at 25 percent through five games. Len had an F Perimeter Shooting grade in 2017-18.

Dedmon is the better player, and even if Pierce needs to limit his minutes–he’s played 14 and 26 minutes respectively–Dedmon needs to be inserted into the starting lineup and more importantly, be on the floor to close out games as well.

2. Slow starts continue to plague Atlanta

There have been just five games played so far. In each of the five, the Hawks have fallen behind early.

Part of this is due to the absence of John Collins. Collins is a tone-setter for this team. His combination of athleticism and effort can give this group the jump start they need early in games.

Another reason is that the team is being orchestrated by a rookie point guard, Trae Young. While Young has shown flashes of being a high-level talent in the future, his present form’s inconsistency has reminded us that he is just a rookie.

Last night, things really started clicking when the second unit came in, led by veteran Jeremy Lin. Consistent outside shooting from DeAndre’ Bembry and Kevin Huerter helped too.

Going forward, Pierce needs to figure out if the slow starts are something he can live with. If not, then the team needs to make some lineup changes, or Pierce could start utilizing his bench earlier in games to avoid digging themselves too deep of a hole to come back from.

3. This is a game Atlanta can’t lose

Entering the season, the Hawks were pegged by several media outlets and casino prognosticators to finish with the lowest win total in the league.

Their opening night blowout loss to the Knicks affirmed this for many, but Atlanta bounced back and began to look like a team that had peeked its head out of the sewer of the NBA.

Yet, facing a Bulls team missing starters Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn, and key reserve Bobby Portis, this is a game that the Hawks could not afford to lose if they want to erase the narrative of being one of the worst teams in the NBA.

And Atlanta was set up well to do so. Chicago is one of the few teams with more injuries than the Hawks. Getting a battered and beaten opponent at home is a game that should be an easy win.

It might’ve gone that way if Atlanta shot better and held on to the ball, but sloppy play and missed shots doomed the Hawks throughout the game.

With a lot of new faces on this team, this could ultimately be chalked up to the early season feeling out process. Nonetheless, it is a teaching moment for sure and one the team needs to hone in on before it becomes a theme of their season.

Two Questions

1. How does this team respond?

After suffering back-to-back blowout losses to begin the season, Atlanta showed some resiliency by running off two consecutive victories to right the ship heading into last night’s meeting with the Bulls.

That loss really stings.

Now, instead of riding high into Philadelphia on a three-game winning streak, they face off with a playoff contender on the road defeated.

The good news is that the 76ers have been up-and-down to begin the year as they try to work in last year’s number one overall pick, Markelle Fultz.

The bad news is that the 76ers still have Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons on their roster.

While a win would be a great boost for the young Hawks, the true test of this game isn’t the final score, but whether or not Atlanta puts forth a respectable effort or not on the floor.

2. Can Atlanta keep up the pace?

The Hawks currently lead the NBA in pace at 108.6 possessions per 48 minutes. Lloyd Pierce has made it known that he wants this team to push the tempo under his tutelage.

However, when looking at the remainder of the top 10 teams in pace, there are only three teams with winning records (New Orleans Pelicans at fourth, Milwaukee Bucks at sixth, and Golden State Warriors at eighth).

The NBA as a whole has really bought in on the “pace and space” ideal first modernized by Mike D’Antoni’s “Seven Second or Less” Phoenix Suns teams of the mid-to-late 2000’s.

Every night is likely to turn into a track event nowadays. Compared to the revolutionary “Seven Second or Less” Suns, even the slowest team this year (Indiana Pacers at 97.58) has a higher pace than any of those seasons with D’Antoni in the desert.

Playing fast is one of the core tenets of Pierce’s modus operandi for the Hawks. It is key that this team puts the pedal to the metal in every game in order to allow them to have enough possessions to overcome their youth and turnover concerns.

One Prediction

1. John Collins comes back for the Knicks rematch

The Atlanta sports world is waiting with bated breath as John Collins remains sidelined with his ankle injury.

In their latest update, the Hawks said that the second-year forward would be re-evaluated on November 4. Collins has still been traveling with the team and taking part in portions of practice while he recovers.

After Collins’ re-evaluation, Atlanta has two days before they face the Charlotte Hornets on the road, and then come back home for the second half of their first back-to-back of the year against the New York Knicks.

As we all know, the Knicks humiliated Atlanta in the first game of the season. I’m sure there are many people inside that locker room that feel like that performance wasn’t a true representation of what this team can do.

If Collins gets the all-clear from the medical staff, it would seem like a better idea to have him return for the second game of the back-to-back in order to lessen the toll on his body.

Plus, the Hawks will be home for the game after they see New York for the second time this season, meaning that there’s no strenuous travel to add on top of Collins presumed return.

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