Five observations from the Hawks’ 100-96 loss to the Hornets Friday night.
1. Call it simply, 'The Ejection.' Dwight Howard was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected after an elbow connected with the face of Cody Zeller battling for a rebound in the fourth quarter. The Hornets scored the next nine points to turn a three-point deficit into a six-point lead, 95-89. The Hawks could not recover. They closed within a point on a Kyle Korver 3-pointer with 1:18 to play but failed to get enough stops. The Hornets were fouled on their two baskets and also came down with a key offensive rebound with 30 seconds remaining on the miss of the second and-one.
“It was a momentum shift,” Paul Millsap said. “They got two free throws out of it and completely turned the game around. They are at home. They had a lot of energy. Give them credit. They knocked down shots when they needed it.”
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game that he did not see the play and did not comment.
Zeller hit or nearly hit Howard in the face swinging his feet after a dunk on the proceeding possession.
2. Lost in the fact that Howard was ejected, is that the Hawks blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead. The Hornets had already got within one point before the play. The Hawks have a 9-3 record and have led by 10 or more points in all but one of their games.
“There were a lot of plays leading up to that,” Kyle Korver said. “We started off the third quarter so well. I really feel like we were playing good basketball and pushed out the lead. They got it all back in less than two minutes if felt like. It’s one of those collapses that we just can’t have. I’m not sure what is causing it.” Of note, the Hornets have erased a double-digit deficit in six of their eight wins.
3. The Hawks were a meager 3 of 17 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range. That's what lost the game in the end. The close-fought battle featured 19 lead changes. The Hawks took the 18th lead change in the third quarter. The Hornets got the last and the only one that mattered.
“It’s one thing we definitely have to work on,” Millsap said. “We’ve had double-digit leads throughout the season and we lose them for whatever reason. We have to keep our focus throughout the course of the game.”
4. The Hawks ended up 11 of 17 from the free-throw line. However, they didn't take their sixth and seventh attempts until Millsap was fouled with 10:46 left in the game. The Hornets were 16 of 24 from the free-throw line. Kemba Walker, Nicolas Batum and Zeller were a combined 12 of 17.
The Hawks would not point fingers at the discrepancy but indicated they believed they were aggressive enough going to the basket.
“I felt like we attacked the rim when we needed to,” Millsap said. “They are the home team. That’s all I can say about it.”
5. Batum and Zeller hurt the Hawks early. Walker hurt them late. Batum and Zeller had 25 of Hornets' 29 first-quarter points and 33 of 48 first-half points. Walker was held to two points and was 0 of 7 in the first half. However, he scored 19 of his 21 points after halftime, including seven straight in the fourth quarter after the Howard ejection.
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