The Atlanta Hawks lost a heartbreaking 99-98 game to the Detroit Pistons, a game that underscored the Hawks' biggest flaw without Trae Young: their strange guard rotation.
The Hawks were at a disadvantage in this match, as this was the tail end of a road back-to-back for the club. Atlanta faced off against Philadelphia in that game, who pushed the Hawks into another nail-biter that took two overtimes to finally claim victory.
The game script favored the slightly sluggish Hawks, as neither team could get anything going on offense. Both squads finished with a bottom-five percentile points per possession on the night; the Hawks couldn’t finish at the rim, and the Pistons couldn’t knock down a three.
While the Pistons claimed today’s victory, Hawks fans should walk away from this feeling better about the team overall. Sure, a win would be nice, but being able to compete with the hottest team in the East without their star is a consolation prize that Atlanta can try to redeem upon Young’s return.
The Hawks dropped a winnable game, but will be back for revenge
There isn’t one thing to blame for this loss, but a head-scratching common flaw that has plagued the Hawks struck again in this game. In the late third quarter, the Hawks rolled out the perimeter rotation of Keaton Wallace, Luke Kennard, and Vit Krejci.
This lineup has been the worst three-man rotation by the eye test, and the numbers back it up with a paltry -18.8 net rating over 75 minutes played together (excluding tonight’s action, which will certainly drop the rating even further). This lineup was responsible for a Detroit 9-0 run over the final 2:18 of the third, before the team was saved by the bell at the end of the quarter.
Why Snyder continues to stubbornly roll this lineup now is beyond mind-boggling. We have 22 games of evidence to prove that this lineup cannot function together. Each player has a role on this team, but what on Earth are the Hawks supposed to do without any of Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, or Dyson Daniels on the floor?
Thankfully, this lineup appears to have an expiration date. One of Alexander-Walker, Daniels, or Zaccharie Risacher will move to the bench and disrupt the current rotation that allows for this lineup. Regardless, this raises another question about Snyder’s long-term fit as the coach in Atlanta.
Snyder has to do a better job of adapting within games (and seasons) moving forward. He reminds me of a young Mike Budenholzer, the former Hawks coach who coached the Bucks’ 2021 Finals-winning squad. Coach Bud has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to regular-season performance and systems. He made the 2015 Hawks a 60-win team despite not having the talent to suggest such a record, and was vital in turning the Bucks into a competitive team.
Bud’s problem was that he could not adjust according to what was happening on the floor to save his life. In a throwback to a game Hawks fans remember fondly, here’s what a Bucks columnist had to say about Trae Young’s 48-point performance in the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals.
“Trae Young was just floating shot after shot over the top of Brook Lopez (who was in a deep drop), and the Bucks ended up losing that game. That’s something that if they had adjusted before the series, maybe (the Bucks) win that.” Likewise, maybe the Hawks win this match without playing Wallace-Kennard-Krejci against one of the physically strongest teams in the league.