There are no moral victories for the Hawks.
A loss is a loss — even if it comes with 0.4 seconds remaining against the defending Western Conference champion Spurs. Perhaps Monday’s 102-100 defeat, the Hawks’ 16th consecutive in San Antonio, stung a little more considering the team’s play of late. The Hawks have lost five of their past six games, some in ugly fashion. Consider:
- They let a 12-point lead slip away after being outscored 30-13 in the fourth quarter in a home loss to the Celtics.
- They let an eight-point lead vanish with a poor third quarter at home against the Magic, who snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Hawks.
- They were drubbed in a road loss to the Rockets as they trailed by 12, 14 and 15 points, respectively, in the first, second and third quarters.
- The lone victory in the recent stretch came after they erased a 17-point deficit in a home victory over the Mavericks on an Al Horford game-winner.
- They fell behind by 18 points the next night, but couldn't recover in a road loss to the Wizards
- They had a chance at a statement victory on the road against the Spurs before Tim Duncan delivered the painful last-second shot.
“It’s tough, man,” Horford said of the latest loss. “I don’t think anyone in this locker room should hang their heads. We fought all the way to the end. Throughout the game we made some miscues. We didn’t finish fast breaks, didn’t do things that could have put us over the top. We had a chance at the end. It’s tough. We really wanted this one.”
The Hawks will play their 20th game — roughly the season’s quarter mark — Wednesday and stand with a 9-10 record. The good news is that the Hawks have a chance to gain momentum on their home court. Wednesday’s game against the Clippers is the start of a season-long four-game homestand and part of seven of eight games at Philips Arena. Except for a game at the Knicks on Dec. 14, the Hawks will be at home until a game at Miami on Dec. 23.
The Hawks could be embarking on a season-defining stretch.
Coach Mike Budenholzer said he was encouraged by the Hawks’ play in the past two games, despite the losses. He said after each defeat that he was pleased with the way the Hawks competed and didn’t give up.
Perhaps the biggest point to take away from the loss to the Spurs is that the Hawks were able to get back to a high-paced offense that marked the start of the season. Through the first 10 games, the Hawks averaged 104.7 points and failed to break the 100-point mark once. They had back-to-back games with 110 or more points and were among the NBA leaders in scoring. However over the past nine games, the Hawks averaged 92.1 points. That included seven consecutive games where they did not reach 100 points.
“I thought our purpose offensively,” Budenholzer said when asked about the better effort against the Spurs. “We’ve been talking a lot about our pace. Our pace was better, but our purpose was even better. Guys were driving with force and screening and doing everything with a little extra purpose. I think when we do that, we are a better offensive team.”
The Hawks will need to keep up the pace on offense against the Clippers. Los Angeles entered Tuesday’s NBA schedule second in the league in points per game at 106.4. The Hawks ranked 17th at 98.7 points.
“That kind of pace was the pace we were playing earlier in the year,” Horford said after the loss to the Spurs. “Somehow we need to bring that effort on offense every night.”
Second-half tickets: The Hawks will put single-game tickets for the second half of the regular season on sale to the public tomorrow. Tickets will be available for games starting Jan. 20 against the Heat to the home finale April 14 versus the Bobcats.
Games against the Heat (Jan. 20 and April 12), Spurs (Jan. 24), Pacers (Feb. 4), Knicks (Feb. 22), Bulls (Feb. 25 and April 2), Trail Blazers (March 27) are some of the top matchups at Philips Arena during the second half of the season.
Tickets are available at the Philips Arena box office, online at www.hawks.com or at Ticketmaster outlets.
