Hawks return home and show familiar holes, same fight

The last time the Hawks played an official home game they absorbed a historic beatdown from the Knicks. It wasn’t a flashback at State Farm Arena on Saturday night.

The Hawks put up a fight in their home opener against the Rockets. But the visitors took advantage of them in many of the same ways the Knicks did during the first-round playoff series that ended with a 140-89 Hawks defeat in April.

The Hawks started the season with convincing victories at Orlando and Charlotte, but coach Quin Snyder called them “a work in progress” before the home opener. The team’s fans got to see what he meant Saturday during the 121-114 loss to Houston.

The Hawks never led after the first five minutes and trailed by as many as 20 points before rallying near the end. The late burst of better play wasn’t enough to make up for the Rockets exploiting every advantage for most of the night.

“First of all, I think we played a really, really good team,” Snyder said. “The biggest takeaway, as far as what we take from it that we liked, (is) we kept playing. On a night when obviously we needed to be better in a lot of facets of the game … we continued to play, continued to play and got back in the game.

“It would have been easy to fold, but we didn’t do that, which is a good thing.”

That’s no surprise. The starting five for the Hawks to begin this season is the same one that ended last season: CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu. That group showed plenty of resilience until the Knicks proved to be too big, too strong and too good.

But, as they showed during the home opener, the Hawks have some familiar weaknesses to overcome.

The Rockets encountered little resistance at the rim on drives and scored 22 points following offensive rebounds. Center Alperen Sengun muscled his way to 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks struggled to score when they couldn’t run.

“I think there is nothing to overreact over, but we’ve still got a lot of room to grow and I think everybody is hungry to keep growing,” Johnson said.

Internal growth is necessary for the Hawks to build on last season. They surged after moving on from Trae Young, but they hit a hard ceiling against eventual champion New York in the playoffs.

Hawks senior basketball executive Onsi Saleh spent the summer tinkering at the edges of a roster that was good enough to finish sixth in the Eastern Conference. Snyder and his staff are charged with finding roles for new players, getting more out of the holdovers and maintaining the spirit that fueled his team’s late-season surge.

The Hawks were a good defensive team by the end of last season. They became one of the best transition scoring teams in the league.

“We found a little bit of an identity,” Snyder said before the Rockets game. “The season didn’t end the way we wanted to. You take a lot of that with you. The challenge is to bring certain things with you and to recognize that it really is a new year.

“The more important thing is the way that we approach games and the focus being about the team: defending, sharing the ball, competing, play hard. Play hard and play together.”

Saleh acquired new players who fit that mold while also giving the Hawks something they were missing.

Veteran Lu Dort and rookie Kingston Flemings should help at the defensive end. Flemings and Aaron Wiggins can diversify the offense with their ability to get to the rim. The Hawks re-signed big man Jock Landale, who might have helped them against the Knicks but went to the injured list for good April 1.

The Hawks started this season fast. They were better at the finish against Magic on Wednesday. The Hawks set a franchise record for victory margin with a 128-81 win in Charlotte on Friday night.

The Rockets were a tougher test. They are especially good on the offensive boards. Snyder wanted the Hawks to “gang rebound” to counteract that, but it was the Rockets who had multiple players going hard to the boards.

A third-quarter sequence highlighted the disparity.

Rockets guard Reed Sheppard missed a 3-point attempt. Former Hawks center Clint Capela collected that miss. Kevin Durant missed a 3-pointer and Sheppard chased down the rebound. Tari Eason missed a 3-point try, and Sheppard scrapped for the loose ball, tipped it to himself and scored to put the Rockets ahead 82-65.

The Hawks trailed by 12 points with two minutes to go. They got the deficit down to five points before the Rockets finished them off.

“We talk all the time about becoming the best version of ourselves,” Snyder said. “These are the types of games that give you the opportunity to do that. That’s where we are right now.”