The Hawks held a video session Saturday as a final postmortem of their lopsided home loss to the Raptors the previous evening.
There were enough ugly details to go around from the 105-80 defeat that snapped a 12-game home win streak.
Coach Mike Budenholzer was asked what the video session showed in particular.
“That we weren’t good,” he said.
There were plenty of issues. The Hawks:
- Shot a season-worst 33 percent (29-of-88) from the field.
- Shot a miserable 21.1 percent (8-of-38) from 3-point range.
- Committed a season-high-tying 23 turnovers and allowed a season-high 15 steals.
- Trailed by as many as 35 points.
“We just weren’t good,” Budenholzer said. “You can make up all kinds of excuses, come up with reasons, but at the end of the day we weren’t good defensively. We weren’t good in a lot of ways.”
The Hawks returned with the lackluster effort after not having played for eight days because of the NBA All-Star break. Fourth-fifths of the starting lineup, and the coaching staff, were part of a whirlwind weekend in New York that meant little rest. Other members of the team vacationed in tropical locales.
However, it’s worth noting that the Hawks have lost four of their past seven games after winning 33 of 35 games that included a 19-game win streak. They blew an 18-point lead to the Celtics and lost in the final second of the last game before the All-Star break. The Hawks have lost two consecutive games, something they’ve done only twice this season.
Paul Millsap said there are issues — especially on defense — that have become a problem of late.
“It’s been for a while,” Millsap said. “Things have lingered around, things we’ve got to tighten up on. It’s really just tightening up a lot of things that made us successful and we’ve gotten away from.
“The last seven have not been up to our standards. Not up to what we are capable of doing. It’s about us getting back to playing close attention to detail and the basics.”
Millsap said the film session was beneficial in showing those details that need to be fixed.
The Eastern Conference-leading Hawks (43-12) need to move on, as they play at the Bucks on Sunday afternoon. The teams have split the two games played this season, with each winning on the other’s home court. The Bucks won by 30 points Dec. 26. The next night, the Hawks won by five points despite shooting 36 percent, the season-worst before Friday’s game against the Raptors. The Bucks (31-23) are sixth in the East and have won four consecutive.
The Bucks were active at the trade deadline. They dealt Brandon Knight and Kendall Marshall to the Suns and acquired Michael Carter-Williams from the 76ers and Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee from the Suns. Carter-Williams is listed as doubtful with a right foot strain. The Bucks will also play without Larry Sanders (personal).
Budenholzer said the Bucks present problems because of the number of lineups they can use during the course of a game.
“They’ve given us problems,” Budenholzer said. “I think (coach) Jason Kidd has done a great job throwing unique lineups. You have to be on your toes and prepare for different things. … We are going to have to play well and be mentally sharp for whatever it is they are doing. Stay within our normal things, but you have to be prepared and aware of what they are doing.”
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