Without Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter, the Hawks (10-12) lacked a scoring punch and fell to the Jazz, 112-91, Thursday at State Farm Arena.
Next up, the Hawks will be off Friday and will host the Raptors Saturday night.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. Last time the Hawks faced the Jazz (17-5), Trae Young was held to a career-low tying four points (1-11 FG, 0-2 from 3-point range, 2-2 FT) as Utah denied him the ball from start to finish. He didn’t get the chance for a rematch, though, as he was unavailable to play with a right calf contusion, joining the Hawks’ lengthy injury report, so the Hawks had to try and beat one of the best teams in the Western Conference without their floor general. They were also missing a huge portion of their offense and a guy who can create his own shot in De’Andre Hunter (right knee discomfort), who will try to practice tomorrow, per Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce, as well as rookie Onyeka Okongwu (left Achilles soreness), Bogdan Bogdanovic (avulsion fracture, right knee) and Kris Dunn (right ankle surgery) is out.
2. Backup point guard Rajon Rondo started in Young’s place and Brandon Goodwin got some playing time, too. The two combined to go 1-for-17 from the floor, with Rondo going 0-for-7 (with eight assists and six rebounds) in 28 minutes and Goodwin going 1-for-10, with three assists in 19 minutes. Lack of consistency with the personnel they’re playing with, as the Hawks struggle to stay healthy, was a factor, Pierce said: “Your reserves are playing with a different group pretty much every game. Tonight we move Rondo into the starting lineup, so BG is playing now with different guys, (and) those are Rondo’s trying to get used to playing with. That’s really the challenge.”
3. By a decent margin, the Hawks posted their worst shooting numbers of the season, shooting 32.7% (32-98) from the floor. Their previous low had been 37.4%, which actually came in a win Jan. 11 against a shorthanded Sixers team. John Collins led with 17 points (6-16 FG, 1-6 from 3, 4-4 FT) and Kevin Huerter added 16 (7-14 FG, 2-5 from 3), but Utah center Rudy Gobert frustrated Clint Capela, who went 3-for-14, tallying six points and 17 rebounds.
4. Both teams had a pretty lousy first half, with the Hawks held to 37 points on 30% shooting and still only trailing by eight entering the second. The difference is, the Jazz bounced back with a 35-point third quarter, shooting 58.3% from the floor, to take a 17-point lead going into the fourth. “We look like a team that’s missing a lot of offensive power and depth... If you’re shooting 30% for the game, it’s going to be hard to win, and it caught up to us in the second half,” Pierce said. “They got going a little bit. They got going in the pick-and-rolls, and we couldn’t match, with our offense.”
5. Tony Snell came off the bench to make four 3′s in the fourth quarter. He added 12 points and was 4-for-4 from 3 in 23 minutes. Granted, it came in garbage time, but it’s a sign Snell is getting healthier and can bring some scoring burst off the bench.
