While the Hawks battled back late, the offense fell short on the final few possessions in a home loss to the Knicks Friday night.
Multiple Hawks missed points in the paint that would have narrowed the Knicks’ lead. The Hawks came as close as a two-point deficit with less than 30 seconds left, but New York stole guard Trae Young’s errant pass.
Young said it doesn’t come down to what happened late in the game, however.
“If we played better throughout the first three quarters, we wouldn’t have been in that position,” Young said. “You can’t focus only on the last couple possessions because there’s a lot of other possessions that led up to that and put us in that position.”
The Hawks’ offense struggled with decision-making late in the game, bad passes and some shooters going cold. Yet it was an improvement from a tough opening night in Charlotte Wednesday, where Atlanta went 39-for-93 (41.9%) on field goals and made just five 3-pointers out of 29 attempts.
Atlanta improved from both the field and 3-point line, going 42-for-87 (48.3%) and 12-for-32 (37.5%), respectively. Despite this progress, Young said he feels the offense has work to do as they adjust to coach Quin Snyder’s offensive system.
Where do the Hawks need to continue improving? Execution, Snyder said. He said this, and mistakes, were key to the 126-120 loss.
Although Friday was just the Hawks’ second game, Snyder said he felt the offense was more organized and shot better. However, he said playing a Knicks team that shot well meant they needed to execute better.
“That’s why I’m talking about execution,” Snyder said. “Regardless of how you shoot or what the score is or whether you’re at home or on the road, everybody in the game that’s in a Hawks uniform has to stay focused on that.”
One area for improvement Snyder pointed to: 3-points shots. He said the Hawks could have taken more, saying the team would sometimes try to create shots after already being in a position to shoot.
Young said Snyder emphasizes 3-pointers — something he hasn’t had in a coach before.
“(He) preaches getting up threes, getting to the basket, getting layups, attacking the glass — it’s a whole different scheme,” Young said. “Every coach brings something new, something different. He’s one of the best coaches in the league … we believe in him, we trust what he’s giving us and (we’ve) got to get more reps under it.”
The Hawks were stronger from the 3-point line Friday. Young went 2-for-5 — including a big shot in the first quarter that got the crowd cheering as he raised his arms in celebration.
There were other glimpses of offensive success: forward Jalen Johnson’s ability to work past defenders, guard Bodgan Bogdanovic’s strong night at the 3-point line as he went 4-for-9. But it wasn’t enough to stop the Knicks, whose offense excelled from the 3-point line and seemed one step ahead for most of the game.
For now, the Hawks are focused on continuing the improvement as they ready for Milwaukee on Sunday.
“We have the talent and abilities,” Young said. “It’s just going to take more time, more rest for us to get it going.”
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