The Atlanta Hawks’ four game winning streak came to a crashing halt as they fell to a 123-98 defeat to the L.A. Clippers at State Farm Arena on Friday night. Onyeka Okongwu led the Hawks with 18 points with Trae Young adding 17 points. For the Clippers, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points apiece en route to victory.
The Clippers are a good team in the Western Conference and led by a strong duo in Harden and Leonard — not to mention a solid supporting cast built around them. The visitors were considered favorites heading into last night’s contest, but it was the Hawks who held a marginal lead for much of the first half before stretching their legs in the second quarter taking a double-digit lead in part thanks to an 11-point second quarter from Zaccharie Risacher.
The Hawks’ lead was as high as 11 points before a Nicolas Batum three at the buzzer reduced the lead to eight points heading into halftime.
While the three at the buzzer was a slight downer of affairs, overall, the Hawks ended the half on a very positive note: 61 first half points on 52% shooting and 41% from three would make a very good reading on most nights. However, the third quarter could not have been a further departure from anything that came before. The Hawks proceeded to shoot 4-of-23 from the field in the third quarter, scoring just eight points. The Clippers, meanwhile, scored 35 points to not only erase Atlanta’s lead but race to a 19-point lead in the third quarter.
Let’s look at the third quarter plays and see what happened — and how the Hawks scored their [lowest scoring quarter in a game since 2013](https://x.com/bloghawk/status/1900729434505716091). There were three factors as to why the Hawks scored just eight points: the Clippers’ defense, Atlanta’s own missed shots, and turnovers/steals.
Let’s start with the Clippers’ defense — it was what ensured the Hawks were unsettled early on and it certainly seemed as though those early contested misses carried through to when the Hawks had more open shots that didn’t fall.
It started immediately in the third as Young is pressured by Batum — with other Clipper bodies showing defensive activity — and forces the pass from Young to Daniels in the corner. Batum doesn’t give up on the play, and blocks the corner three attempt from Daniels:
Young faced fierce ball pressure from former Hawk Kris Dunn, who hounds Young on this possession around the screen and blocks Young’s shot from behind:
The Clippers interior defense also held firm when called upon, with Okongwu electing to go up against the length of Ivica Zubac but can’t get the shot to drop:
On this play, Dunn harries Georges Niang from the perimeter all the way into the paint and makes Niang take a tough shot inside which is missed:
The presence of Dunn similarly prompts a rushed shot from Daniels inside:
The Clippers’ defense certainly made the Hawks uneasy offensively. Eventually, easier shot opportunities came but the Hawks struggled to convert them.
On this play, Okongwu kicks the ball out to an open Daniels, who misses the three, with Young’s follow attempt on the offensive rebound also falling short:
Faced with an easier prospect of being guarded by Harden, Daniels is able to get downhill to his spin but with Zubac looming Daniels leaves the layup short:
Again, Harden provides little resistance for Young who gets downhill and into the lane but his left-handed runner is missed, again with Zubac looming nearby:
An even better offensive prospect for the Hawks: James Harden in the pick-and-roll, and it buys Caris LeVert with a shot he’d probably hit in his sleep, but when he gets to the free throw line area the open jumpshot is missed:
Here, the Hawks get two look at good-looking threes; the first from Terance Mann in one corner, and another from Dominick Barlow in the opposite corner after the offensive rebound and find from Vit Krejci:
The Hawks didn’t always do themselves favor with regards turning the ball over, although the Clippers deserve credit for making life difficult in this department: eight turnovers and seven steals respectively in the third.
Kawhi Leonard still has a big impact defensively, switching on the pick-and-roll with Daniels and reaches in to poke the ball away from the Australian:
On an out-of-bounds play, Batum is able to reach around Okongwu and knock Young’s pass away:
On the wing, Mo Gueye’s cross-court pass is telegraphed by Harden for another steal:
This is an experienced play; passes like that are always in danger of being picked off.
As the help defender this time, Leonard catches Risacher unawares and pokes the ball away from the rookie, leading to another turnover:
Similarly, Harden gets his hand in on the dig on the drive for the turnover, and Harden is rewarded for his efforts as he sinks the three-pointer on the other end of the court:
“You’ve got to keep playing, you can’t let missed shots affect your defense,” said Caris LeVert postgame. “That’s what a mature team does.”
Finally, Young’s intended pass inside for Barlow is read by Ben Simmons, who is athletic enough to contest for the ball and intercepts the pass, resulting in another turnover:
A horrible, horrible quarter for the Hawks — one where they entered with a little cushion and ended it on the end of a potential blowout which turned to be the case in the fourth quarter as the Hawks never brought the lead below 15 points before the Clippers ended with a game-high lead of 23 points.
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder outlined why the third quarter went so wrong, citing the Hawks’ open misses and the Hawks’ turnovers.
“It was a perfect storm,” said Snyder. “We had some open looks from three, wide open. We had the ball at the rim, had some layups that danced around the rim and didn’t go in. If that’s happening you can’t turn the ball over — that was as big as any part of the game-plan. We had 10 of them in that one quarter. We lost the game in that quarter. We were trying a little bit of everything. We played well in the half, and that quarter for those reasons against a team like that, it’s hard to sustain your defense when they’re scoring and you’re taking it out of bounds. Even then, I thought we got some good stuff.”
“It’s a combination of both,” added Young of the third quarter. “We weren’t making shots, turning it over, including me. Got to be better.”
The Clippers deserve a lot more credit for their efforts in the third quarter defending the Hawks and forcing turnovers, which Snyder didn’t seem to want to credit, but Caris LeVert was more magnanimous.
“I think we had a couple of tough turnovers as a team,” said LeVert of the third quarter. “They made shots, we missed shots, that’s sometimes what happens with this game. Got to tip our hats to them, they had a good game-plan. At half time they switched things up, you’ve got to tip your hats to them.”
The debrief for Snyder and his squad as to why this game fell away from their grasp doesn’t appear as if it’ll be an extensive process, with Snyder speaking with a degree of certainty that the debrief will not take long.
“I think for us to understand what happened, I don’t think that’s a complicated process,” said Snyder. “We’ve been playing well and we played well at times tonight. We can feel it, it’s OK to feel a loss, but to be ready to go the next game.”
There were a number of good performances first half that ultimately faded into obscurity such as Risacher (unable to follow his second quarter showing — 13 first half points) and LeVert (10 first half points). The Hawks’ usual suspects could not find their feet offensively. Dyson Daniels scored just six points on 2-of-12 shooting, LeVert only scored two second half points, and All-Star Trae Young scored 17 points on 6-of-18 from the field and seven turnovers. Young faced a lot of defensive pressure from Kris Dunn, as well as a multitude of switching bodies. Unlike other nights when Young was disrupted, no one else could step up last night.
“Everybody on our team had stretches where we struggled collectively,” said Snyder. “When we play, the game-plan is always going to be about Trae. Whether they send him a certain direction or being physical with him, he’s going to see all those thing — and he’s seen all of them. We need to play better as a team.”
Young was hampered by a shoulder issue, which he described postgame picking up in Wednesday’s win over Charlotte. Young wore a compression sleeve to begin the game which he ditched at halftime.
“I got hit last game, Nurkic fouled me in the first quarter,” said Young of his shoulder. “It was hurting again, so I tried it again. I took it off, I was frustrated. I wasn’t hitting some of my shots I usually make.”
Elsewhere, Dominick Barlow scored a solid 10 points off the bench and when Snyder was asked about Barlow, he was quick to mention the efforts of Okongwu.
“He’s done that for us when he’s got opportunities to play,” said Snyder of Barlow. “Both he and ‘O’ were sure with the ball. They made plays. In addition to finishing, both of those guys can handle and pass the ball. It was good to see Dom come in and take that opportunity, Onyeka as well.”
With no Clint Capela (out for family reasons) there was a lot of pressure on the big man matchup with Zubac, who is a force to handle inside with his smooth offense and rebounding ability. It’s not been a matchup the Hawks have always thrived in, but the Hawks did an OK job between Okongwu and Barlow on Zubac — it wasn’t quite the 20-15 game that can be seen from Zubac against the Hawks. Of all the issues last night, the Zubac matchup was not one of them.
The feel-good moment of the game that will last was the reunion of the Hawks and former wing Bogdan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic signed with the Hawks in free agency in 2020 before being traded to the Clippers earlier this season. Bogdanovic was given a positive ovation (it would be hard to find anyone who didn’t love Bogdanovic during his Atlanta stint) and a video tribute.
“It was bittersweet,” said Young of seeing Bogdanovic. “I got a lot of love for ‘Bogi’, we’ve got a lot of memories together. It’s tough. Obviously he’s a great player and he’s going to do great things. I’m glad he’s not in the East, so we don’t have to worry about him over here.”
In the grand scheme of things, this game is probably better remembered for welcoming an old friend back home and not the eight point horror that lost the Hawks this game. No one will want to remember this game in a hurry for that reason, but seeing an old friend who provided a lot of great memories in his time at Atlanta? That sounds a lot more heartwarming.
The Hawks and Clippers will move on, both teams will continue their battle for Play-In position — the Hawks still holding onto seventh in the East and the Clippers a couple of games shy of the seven-seed themselves in a loaded Western Conference.
The Hawks (32-35) are back in action on Sunday night against the Brooklyn Nets (22-44) at Barclays Center.
Until next time!