Hawks Loss to Blazers Makes Road Ahead Trickier

On Monday evening, the Portland Path Blazers defeated the Atlanta Hawks 129-125. It was the primary of a five-game Western Convention highway journey and a matchup that Atlanta couldn’t afford to lose.

To their credit score, Atlanta performed nicely. With out Trae Younger (ankle soreness), Atlanta had extra rebounds, free throws, and dedicated fewer turnovers. They only occurred to seek out themselves on the improper aspect of one other masterclass taught by Damian Lillard.

The perennial NBA All-Star led Portland to victory with an environment friendly 42-point efficiency. Lillard’s teammates stepped up, hitting 19-40 (47.5%) three-point makes an attempt, which helped maintain Atlanta at bay all through the sport.

Not solely does Atlanta get off on the improper foot of their highway journey, however they discover themselves in an uncomfortable place that’s eerily acquainted. Atlanta once more falls under .500 with a document of 25-26 – the identical document the crew had after 51 video games final season.

Nonetheless, final yr’s crew was higher. They’d a top-two offense, and Younger was en path to a historic particular person season culminating in All-NBA honors. Final yr’s crew completed with the 14th-highest internet ranking, whereas this yr’s squad is bottom-seven in internet ranking.

Atlanta ought to be having fun with higher than subpar outcomes after depleting their future draft capital as a part of the Dejounte Murray commerce. The losses should not Murray’s fault, as his manufacturing stays near his final season in San Antonio.

There isn’t a time for finger-pointing as Atlanta should face Phoenix, Denver, Utah, and New Orleans over the evening eight days. After the crew arrives again from its highway journey, two days will stay till the NBA commerce deadline. It’s now or by no means for this model of the Hawks.