NEW YORK – The Hawks pushed the Brooklyn Nets to the end of 48 minutes but it wasn’t enough to leave the Big Apple with the win. The Hawks fell 120-116 Friday night and are 13-13 this season.
Here are five observations.
1. Bogdan Bogdanovic may have needed to find his legs in his first couple of games back. On Friday against the Nets, in just his fourth game back, he looked in form.
The 30-year-old wing knocked down seven of nine shots from 3-point range. Bogdanovic helped keep the Hawks in the game, especially as the team continued to struggle as a whole from distance.
Per the Hawks, it’s the sixth time in his career that he’s hit at least seven triples in a game.
He ended the night with a season-high 31 points in 34 minutes.
The Hawks have had Bogdanovic on a minutes restriction. On Monday, he told reporters that the team would increase his minutes in increments, going from roughly 20 to 26 after three games. But after giving solid minutes for much of the game, the team kept him on the court to keep giving it a chance.
Coach Nate McMillan said that he, Bogdanovic and the training staff discussed things before the sharpshooter finished out the game.
“I’m just working every day, you know, some days it doesn’t go in, some days it goes,” Bogdanovic said. “I’m happy for the performance, but it stinks to lose a game like that. You always compete want to compete against one of the best players in the league, KD (Kevin Durant) obviously, Kyrie (Irving), and they’re a tough team to beat.”
2. After missing Thursday afternoon’s practice, Hawks guard Trae Young helped navigate his team through the fight against the Nets. Young scored 33 points and had nine assists that generated 21 of the team’s points.
It was an efficient night for the 24-year-old who made 12 of his 25 shot attempts from the floor.
“I don’t miss too many games, knock on wood, but I just want to go out there and play for my teammates,” Young said. “I’m living the dream of playing in the NBA, so I don’t take that for granted.”
3. The Hawks fought all the way to the end but made some costly mistakes down the stretch. The Nets capitalized on the Hawks leaving Durant wide open for a 3-pointer that stretched the lead to 116-111 with 1:09 remaining in the game.
Bogdanovic a three to bring the Hawks within two, with 6.9 seconds left. But a pair of costly fouls to Durant and Seth Curry gave the Nets some breathing room.
Then the Hawks allowed the Nets to pull down a pair of offensive rebounds that let Brooklyn keep possession of the ball.
“We got to believe in each other,” McMillan said. “We know that we’re shorthanded. We’re not playing to play close. We’re playing to win games. And we can do it. Tonight was about us finishing and we have to learn to finish games, get stops and then make shots the last five minutes of a game when it’s close like this
4. With three starters out due to injuries, John Collins, Dejounte Murray and De’Andre Hunter, the Hawks had to go deep into their rotation. So they leaned on Trent Forrest, who is signed to a two-way deal, to help lead their second unit.
Forrest provided the Hawks with a strong performance after missing the last three games after going into concussion protocol.
He scored 11 points, had two rebounds, three assists and two steals. He provided the Hawks with some size as they tried to find the right matchups to limit Irving.
“Trent, really played the bulk of the second-half minutes at that point position,” McMillan said. “I thought he was doing a good job. He gave us a little bit more size on Irving late and I thought he was doing a good job of playing with Bogi and then we put Trae back out there, a combination of the three. I like the rhythm that they were playing with tonight.”
5. The Hawks have wanted to have a group rebounding mentality to ensure they’re limiting opponents opportunities. Ahead of the game, McMillan said that the team has utilized film to get them out of the habit of ball watching.
Hawks center Clint Capela has been the anchor on the defensive end for the Hawks but he could still use some help on the glass. In the Nets pregame availability, coach Jacque Vaughn said that it would be a priority to box out Capela and limit him.
By the end of the night, though, both teams collected 38 rebounds, with the Nets pulling down a pair of offensive boards down the stretch.
Capela for his part had 10 rebounds to go along with 15 points. It was his seventh straight double-double, the longest active streak in the NBA. He has 15 this season.
Stat to know
750 - Bogdan Bogdanovic reached 750 career 3-pointers with his second triple Friday and now has 755 total. Bogdanovic is the 79th active player to reach that milestone.
Quotable
“It’s always fun playing with him. When he’s in attack mode. He’s making shots like he did tonight, it’s really fun. — Trae Young on Bogdanovic’s performance.
Up next
The Hawks return home to host the Bulls on Sunday.
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