The Hawks (8-8) battled back from a bad start, but couldn’t overtake the Bucks in a 129-115 loss Sunday in Milwaukee (10-6).
Next up, the Hawks host the Clippers Tuesday and the Nets Wednesday in a tough back-to-back.
Here are some takeaways from the loss:
1. Without Trae Young (back spasm) and Clint Capela (right hand soreness), both of whom have put up impressive numbers the past few games, the Hawks’ offense took a hit. They trailed 32-15 after a rough first quarter (held to 27.3% shooting) and the deficit reached 24 in the second, but put up a massive 36 points in the third quarter to make it competitive. Although the Hawks got within eight points in the fourth, they couldn’t come up with enough to leapfrog the Bucks.
Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce didn’t like the shot selection in the first quarter, but thought that improved as the game went on: “I thought we just played take-the-easy-way-out to start the game, some of the shot selections, some of the shots that were going up were kind of the first options. We didn’t really make them work, and they weren’t great shots and once we started to move the defense and get downhill, obviously (De’Andre Hunter) gets going a little bit, but it was because we were attacking.”
2. Hunter continued his strong sophomore campaign with a career-high 33 points (13-for-21 from the field, 2-5 from 3, 5-6 FT), adding 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Hunter got a slow start and didn’t score in the first quarter, but scored 14 in the second. He’s now averaging 17.4 points per game.
3. John Collins made a career-high six 3-pointers (going 6-for-9), finishing with 30 points and 7 rebounds. Collins led the team in 3-point percentage last year at 40.1% and is now shooting 40.4% from 3 this year.
4. Without Capela, who’s second in the league in rebounds per game at 14.5, the Hawks struggled on the boards. They were out-rebounded, 52-27, with the Bucks grabbing 16 offensive rebounds to the Hawks’ 5.
5. In Capela’s absence, rookie Onyeka Okongwu got his first career NBA start, though it’s a tough draw to be matched up against Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished two assists shy of a triple-double with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. Okongwu showed some good defensive instincts, and had a great sequence at the end of the third quarter when he followed up a dunk with a block at the other end.
He finished with 4 points (2-2 FG, 0-2 FT), 2 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal in a little under 16 minutes.
“He definitely came ready to compete,” Collins said of Okongwu. “Being thrown in the fire like that, against a two-time MVP, I feel like we understood the mountain he had to climb, but … we were all there trying to help him and push him along as best we could.”
Stat of the game
52-27 (the rebounding differential, in favor of the Bucks, without Capela)
Star of the game
Hunter (led the Hawks in scoring and had a career-high 33 points)
Quotable
“As you saw tonight, if he can get to his spots, it’s money.” (Collins on Hunter’s strong night and start to the season)
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