The Atlanta Hawks ran into one of the best teams in the league on Friday night in the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they were shown what it takes to be elite. Despite the greatness of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his MVP season, the Thunder as a team knows how to move the ball, create turnovers, and play as a unit. For the Hawks, they’re still a young team trying to learn each other with new players, and it has continued to show after the over the past few weeks.
The Hawks still played well despite losing 135-119, and Trae Young has one hope for the team as the season continues.
“At the end of the day, right now, we’re just hoping we’re clicking at the right time,” Young said after the game. “The record is what it is; we can’t change it, can’t go back and do over games. For me personally, I just hope that we can connect and click at the right time. We have a few more games, obviously, to get it going, and we played a really good team tonight that can challenge us and give us something to learn from.”
Turnovers are what changed the game for the Hawks as they finished with 19, and they know they need to be better in that department.
“Quin [Snyder] said it after the game, we gotta do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Caris LeVert said. “I know myself, I had like three turnovers but we can’t give them the possession game. Something that I’ve learned being in the league, you gotta win the possession game, especially if you’re playing a talented team. You gotta come out of the game with more possessions.”
Hawks’ fourth quarter not enough to overcome Thunder
The Hawks started the game off slow which led them to be down 40-23 after the first quarter. They made runs throughout the game, and at the end of the first half, they went on a 14-0 run to only being down 71-64 going into halftime. It was another poor start from the Hawks to start the second half, and they saw themselves down by as much as 27 points during the third quarter.
“Playing from behind the whole game, I think we did a good job making up ground, and a couple of times we made it a game at the end,” Quin Snyder said after the game. “Even late we were scratching and clawing but I think in addition to the turnovers, we can’t have breakdowns against this team. They were little things when you play a team of that caliber where you may not be perfect, but you got to better on some of those breakdowns on the defensive end.”
Throughout the game, the Hawks would go on a mini-run and then a breakdown on the other end would make things tough for them once again. Playing a team like the Thunder, the Hawks can learn a thing or two from how a Western Conference favorite can compete night in and night out.
“Trying to lean on good habits,” LeVert said. “Being in the right spot defensively, communicating, playing hard, playing the right way. I think that translates to whatever team you play on.”
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