It’s not new, the Hawks can get a hole in defense. Like its “franchise player”, Trae Young, a scorer rather light in defense, Atlanta is not known to be an impregnable fortress. And this even if Dejounte Murray, De’Andre Hunter or Clint Capela are specialists.
It was confirmed last night with the victory of the Celtics in Georgia (129-121), to take control of the series at 3-1. Quickly overwhelmed in the first quarter, which they will lose by ten lengths (35-25), the Hawks have never been in place defensively. And it’s very damaging for a Game 4 at home, to avoid having your back against the wall!
“They simply play harder than us”we could hear Quin Snyder say during a timeout in the middle of the first quarter. “They run faster than us, they defend harder than us. They pounce on the balloons… Guys, it’s happening there [en indiquant sa tête]. »
Too tender from start to finish
Simply dominated in envy with a deficit of 12 units (32-20) in rebounds, as in points in the paint (28-16) in the first half, but also defensive oversights such as a Sam Hauser alone in the corner at 3-pointers on transition, or Malcolm Brogdon alone on the layup (who will even miss it), Atlanta’s defense took the water from start to finish, drinking the chalice to the dregs with 28 points from the Brown – Tatum duo in the last quarter.
By thus challenging a basketball imponderable, that nothing can be hoped for in the playoffs without a serious defense, the Hawks are simply on the verge of going out again in the first round. Like last year. And the year before too…
There were, however, flashes in the gloom with a block from Capela which led to the huge dunk of DeAndre Hunter, excellent on this match with 27 points and 7 rebounds, during a 9-0 at the end of the first half. -time. In the third quarter, Atlanta also fought back, returning to five small points (92-87) before the home stretch.
But it was to better crack behind, by conceding 37 points in the 4th quarter, behind the repeated assaults of the Celtic All Stars, at 31 units each. “They arrived as if their backs were against the wall and it showed”conceded Young. “It’s a very good team. They are not there by chance. »
The Hawks did not defend their nest!
More specifically, Quin Snyder regretted a flagrant lack of effort from his players, who were too fragile on the first curtain. And in the production of these famous multiple efforts, fundamental to distinguish themselves in the playoffs.
“They have been to the circle a lot. Defensively, we struggled to contain them. In attack, we were scoring, but we weren’t able to make enough stops.” regretted Snyder. “They were quicker to dive on the balls. We didn’t manage to defend well enough to give ourselves a chance to really come back to their level [en fin de match]. They have players who are able to create their own shot and that’s what they did. »
Winners of the Heat during the “play in”, the Hawks are already used to playing their lives on a match. Truth be told, they never seem more comfortable than when their backs are against the wall.
“We have to go game by game. Now we have no choice, we know we have to win [le prochain] or we go home, concludes Young. “We will go there and try to win in order to give ourselves a chance at home. Game after game. Anything can still happen. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Trae Young | 73 | 34.8 | 42.9 | 33.5 | 88.6 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 10.2 | 4.1 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 26.2 |
| Dejounte Murray | 74 | 36.4 | 46.4 | 34.4 | 83.2 | 0.7 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 20.5 |
| De’Andre Hunter | 67 | 31.7 | 46.1 | 35.0 | 82.6 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 15.4 |
| Bogdan Bogdanovic | 54 | 27.9 | 44.7 | 40.6 | 83.1 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 14.0 |
| John Collins | 71 | 30.0 | 50.8 | 29.2 | 80.3 | 1.1 | 5.4 | 6.5 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 13.1 |
| Clint Capela | 65 | 26.6 | 65.3 | 0.0 | 60.3 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 11.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 12.0 |
| Saddiq Bey | 25 | 25.1 | 47.0 | 40.0 | 86.2 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 4.8 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 11.6 |
| Onyeka Okongwu | 80 | 23.1 | 63.8 | 30.8 | 78.1 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 7.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 9.9 |
| Aj Griffin, Jr. | 72 | 19.5 | 46.5 | 39.0 | 89.4 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 8.9 |
| Jalen Johnson | 70 | 14.9 | 49.1 | 28.8 | 62.8 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 5.6 |
| Garrison Mathews | 9 | 9.4 | 41.9 | 40.0 | 87.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 4.8 |
| Justin Holiday | 28 | 14.7 | 38.4 | 34.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| Jarrett Culver | 10 | 13.7 | 39.5 | 8.3 | 69.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 4.4 |
| Aaron Holiday | 63 | 13.4 | 41.8 | 40.9 | 84.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 3.9 |
| Bruno Fernando | 8 | 5.2 | 57.9 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 3.4 |
| Frank Kaminsky | 26 | 6.8 | 56.8 | 47.8 | 83.3 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.7 |
| Trent Forrest | 23 | 12.0 | 41.7 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
| Donovan Williams | 2 | 2.1 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Tyrese Martin | 16 | 4.1 | 39.1 | 14.3 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| Vit Krejci | 29 | 5.7 | 40.5 | 23.8 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
