When facing the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, the Hawks understood they needed to be as close to perfect as possible. But they fell 135-119 to the Thunder on Friday night at State Farm Arena.
Here are five observations.
1. The Thunder gave the Hawks a reminder why they are the favorite to win it all when the NBA season wraps in June. The Thunder made tough shot after tough shot, even when the Hawks ran out to contest the shot.
But the Thunder made eight more 3s than the Hawks and shot 69% from deep in the first half. They made 60% of their triples in the third quarter to lead by as many as 27 points with 1:06 left in the third quarter.
Though the Hawks did contest some of the shots the Thunder attempted, more times than not, they were late in their rotations. It left players like Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins or Jalen Williams wide open for shots from deep.
If the Thunder didn’t burn the Hawks from the 3-point line, the Hawks left space for easy drives to basket or backdoor cuts.
“They had a lot of open looks, whether it be layups or 3-pointers,” Hawks guard Caris LeVert said. “And you can’t give a really good team like that open looks. They’ll take advantage of it. They’ve been doing it all year, and they did a great job of taking advantage of our mishaps.”
2. LeVert put together another strong night off the bench, scoring 23 points, grabbing two rebounds, dishing two assists and had two steals. The newly acquired Hawks guard continues to be in an acclimation period with the team.
But with three new players in the mix, the Hawks continue to experiment with their rotations and lineups, which lead to 19 mishaps.
“They lead the league in forcing turnovers and you get out there and it’s a little different, of course, confronted with that,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.” But one of those things, we just have to be better.”
The Hawks, though, still got solid offensive production out of the bench, which helped them claw back and make it a six-point game before the end of the first half.
3. They took better care of the ball and they made the necessary stops to go on a run that the allowed them to cut into the league. The Hawks got into their actions quickly but also forced the Thunder to double team Trae Young to free up a man.
Young had nine assists by the end of the first half, with five coming in the second quarter amid the Hawks’ bid to cut into the deficit.
With 8:39 to play, Young drew Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams to the top of the key before quickly swinging to Terance Mann in the corner for 3. Near the end of the quarter, Young pushed the pace and took advantage of numbers to find LeVert in the corner for a transition 3.
“I think Trae did a good job of getting off the ball earlier and it led to some easier baskets for myself and other guys earlier in the game, and I think we just kind of led that momentum up into the second half,” Levert said.
After scoring zero field goals in the first half, Young finished the night with 19 points and 12 assists.
4. While Young dished plenty of five dimes for 3s, he also found some rhythm in the pick-and-roll to find Onyeka Okongwu for some quick looks at the rim. Okongwu took advantage and drew favorable contact for a couple of and-one opportunities.
Okongwu has thrived since the Hawks bumped him into the starting lineup.
“Just to keep being aggressive, no matter what,” Okongwu said. “I know the last game in Miami the shots I usually make they weren’t going in, but in this game, I touched the ball a little bit, talk to it ...”
5. Hawks guard Keaton Wallace went head-to-head with his brother Cason Wallace in the final two minutes of Friday’s action. The Hawks cleared the bench with 2:01 to play in the game and Keaton drained a 3 right away.
But Cason quickly answered on the other end, isolating his brother before driving to the basket for a layup.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Stat to know
21 -- The Thunder made 21 3s through the first three quarters, which is the second-most they’ve made in an entire game this season.
Quotable
“When you’re playing a team of that caliber, you may not be perfect but you got to be better.” -- Quin Snyder.
Up next
The Hawks head to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum on Monday.
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