The Atlanta Hawks ran out of gas Monday, although one could argue that they didn’t have much in the tank to begin with when looking at their 120-95 loss to the Jazz.
Dennis Schroder scored 21 points and Malcolm Delaney added 13 off the bench Monday, but nothing was enough to slow Atlanta’s struggles at home against Western Conference teams as the Jazz whipped the Hawks, 120-95, in Philips Arena.
Defense was an unpopular concept among the Hawks, as the Jazz shot 61.3 percent (49-of-80). Gordon Hayward scored 30 points for Utah (33-19), and Atlanta native Derrick Favors poured in a season-high 20 points and added 10 rebounds as Utah swept the Hawks.
“It’s just not the defense we expect,” said head coach Mike Budenholzer, whose team was cooked by a 37-point third quarter by the Jazz. “It starts and stops with 120 and 61 percent. It’s not good enough.”
Oddly, the Hawks (30-22) are now 3-6 at home vs. Western Conference teams as opposed to 5-5 on the road.
The Hawks were flounced over the first quarter-and-a-half, trailing 40-23 after Tim Hardaway Jr.’s pass was stolen by Utah center Rudy Gobert and converted into an easy layup by Dante Exum. Hayward alone scored 15 in the first quarter.
With 6:29 left in the second period, Atlanta had scored 23 points.
Defense was the greater overall problem, although forward Kent Bazemore suggested that the problems on that end of the floor began on offense. The Hawks had just 16 assists on 33-of-74 shooting, approaching their atrocious number in a 95-68 loss at Utah on Nov. 25, when they had but 11.
Perhaps Jazz head coach Quin Synder, a former Hawks assistant under Budenholzer, knows a thing or two about Atlanta.
“Ball don’t move … we’ve got to move the ball. That helps everything else,” Bazemore said after scoring eight points and banking three of Atlanta’s six steals. “I don’t think it’s defense. I think we put ourselves in a tough position with quick and hurried shots, not quality shots, and scrambled back on defense.”
Atlanta found some rhythm in the middle of the second quarter to trail just 54-50 at halftime after making 9-of-12 shots to close the second. The highlight, easily, came when Bazemore stole a pass and then at the other end nailed a 3-pointer to pull Atlanta within 52-50.
The third quarter was a mess, though, as the Jazz made 16-of-20 shots, including all three 3-point tries, the bottom coming when former Hawk Joe Johnson popped from beyond the arc for an 89-71 lead late in the period. The Hawks missed 10 of their final 12 shots in that time.
Those were Johnson’s only points.
Atlanta was more adept offensively than in losing to the Jazz in Salt Lake City Nov. 25, barely, but horrid defensively.
Utah gouged the Hawks in the paint, outscoring Atlanta 58-44 from close range.
Hardaway Jr. and Paul Millsap scored 14 points each, but nobody was a real factor.
The Jazz had five players registering at least four assists.
“We’re still figuring things out,” Snyder said, somewhat sheepishly. “We shot the ball well. We moved the ball well, which is good to see.”
Atlanta pulled within 65-62 on Schroder’s 15-foot jump shot with 5:25 left in the third quarter, but the Jazz took off from there on a 26-9 run and were never threatened again.
“At the end of the day, we can’t let our offense dictate our defense,” Millsap said. “We are a really good defensive team. We have to get back to being that defensive powerhouse that we were earlier.”
