The Hawks had plenty of pep in their collective steps Sunday afternoon as they ran the Wizards “ragged” early, but they ran themselves out of gas in a 104-98 loss.
While making but 13-of-52 shots (25 percent) in the second half, the Hawks missed a slew of open looks, lacking the leg power to finish or attack. After Atlanta shot just 17.9 percent in the fourth quarter (5-of-28), it was easy to point to possible fatigue and an over-reliance on jump shots.
Atlanta’s Drive/Dunk/Tip-to-Jumper ratios were 7-17 in the third quarter, and 9-19 in the fourth. The Hawks made just 1-of-10 3-pointers in the fourth period.
“Yeah, probably,” Kyle Korver said when asked if he sensed that the Hawks were taking too many jumpers. “It’s human nature: we shot the ball so well it’s easy to start relying on that.”
The Hawks and head coach Mike Budenholzer were careful not to claim fatigue after playing Friday night at Brooklyn, while the Wizards had a week off. Their numbers bled, though.
By quarters, Atlanta’s assists went 11-8-6-2. Their shooting percentages went 63.5-41.7-33.3-17.9. Their points went 37-26-20-15.
There was less room to debate the out-of-whack jumper quotient in the second half.
“We’ve got to get in the paint and attack more, and continue to move the ball,” Budenholzer suggested. “It has to start with us being more aggressive.”
Actually, the Hawks weren’t especially effective near the rim when there. They made made 3-of-7 Drive/Dunk/Tips in the third period, and 3-of-9 in the fourth.
“The biggest thing was we missed a lot of open shot, shots around the rim,” DeMarre Carroll said after scoring three of his 24 points in the second half. “We were getting any shot we wanted.”
Getting shots wasn’t a problem; making them was and it was especially stark after they took a 37-26 lead on 14-of-22 shooting, prompting Washington coach Randy Wittman to bark, “they’re running us ragged,” in a huddle.
“I think our pace was better in the first half,” Al Horford said. “Maybe in the second half we were just tired or whatever. I’m not going to make excuses … We’ve got to try to keep that fast pace. It’s hard.”
Over the final three quarters, the Hawks made just 23-of-76 shots (30.3 percent). As for last gasps, they missed six shots on a late possession.
Trailing 98-94, Paul Millsap rebounded Horford’s missed 17-footer with 2:01 left and passed to Jeff Teague, who missed a 3-pointer. Horford tried to tip in, but missed. He rebounded, and Korver followed with a missed 3-pointer.
Horford rebounded again. Teague missed another drive. Horford tried to tip that in, too, but missed again. Washington’s Paul Pierce rebounded with 1:37 to go.
“I had a couple tips there that just came out. I couldn’t believe it,” Horford said. “It is frustrating.”
Atlanta made 5-of-17 jumpers in the third quarter and 2-of-19 in the fourth. Even though they weren’t effective at the rim, either, if they’d attacked more often they surely would’ve taken more than seven free throws per half.
Korver, who missed nine of his final 11 shots, offered a solution: “We’ve got to keep finding better ways to get into the paint.”
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