The Atlanta Hawks experienced the positive side of late-game variance when Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit the game winner to give the Hawks a win over the Jazz. Funnily enough, the game came down to another big three-pointer by Alexander-Walker.

This time, he unfortunately missed it due to rushed execution and the Hawks dropped a tough game against a team they had several opportunities to beat. They got out to a hot start, tied the game at 60 points apiece at halftime and kept it within five points down the critical stretch of the fourth quarter. However, their struggles on the glass, poor offensive execution and some nice ball movement from the Hornets to get good shots made the difference in the 126-119 loss.

Let’s break down this loss for the Hawks.

The Return of Zaccharie Risacher

It’s been a tough sophomore season for Zaccharie Risacher. He’s missed time with injuries and hasn’t been able to take the necessary steps forward to show progress. Risacher’s regressed in points per game, FG%, 3PT% and 3P attempts. He’s been much better in transition, but the sample size isn’t large enough yet to show this improvement is permanent.

Tonight was a great step back. He looked great moving off-ball, shot it with confidence when the ball swung his way and looked relatively good on defense as well with three blocks. Risacher can have big games when his three-point stroke is online and he came up big at several key points in this game. He scored 18 points on 7-10 shooting from the field while going a perfect 4-4 from three. They weren’t able to make enough shots to edge out the Hornets, but Risacher getting back into form would be huge for the Hawks down the stretch.

Terrible Thirds

The Hawks haven’t been very good at getting momentum back at the half this season. They’re 20th in net rating in the third quarter and they’ve been particularly bad on offense out of the half. Atlanta is 22nd in offensive rating during the third quarter. Their execution on that end was particularly tough to watch tonight.

Specifically, Atlanta blew a huge opportunity to take this game by the reins. The 13-2 run they went at the start of the fourth quarter to take a 108-105 lead could have given them a commanding lead down the stretch. Instead, multiple Hawks either dribbled the air out of the ball or made ill-advised passes that didn’t end up working. This was a particularly rough stretch for Corey Kispert – he had two open corner threes rattle out while also turning the ball over at key moments for the Hawks to get back on track.

Offense on Overdrive

This was one of the best offensive games for the Hawks even if the point total wasn’t outrageously high. They shot 48.9% from the field and a whopping 48.6% from deep. However, they went cold towards the end of the fourth quarter, missing three consecutive attempts from deep that let Charlotte hold onto a four-point lead with three minutes left. Atlanta managed to cut it to a possible game-winning possession at the end, but the Hornets just looked like a better team when it mattered.

Unsurprisingly, they got destroyed on the offensive glass. Charlotte had 15 offensive rebounds to a measly four from Atlanta. Ryan Kalkbrenner played a big role in either deflecting them back to Hornets or grabbing them himself. As usual, Moussa Diabate grabbed 15 rebounds by himself. Still, they were never going to beat the Hornets on the boards and Atlanta’s shooting kept the Hawks in the game. They just ran out of steam down the stretch.

Despite the loss, this was a great game from Jalen Johnson despite falling short of a triple-double. He played bully ball at several points in the game and the Hornets had no real answer for it. He scored 30 points on 10-18 shooting with nine rebounds and eight assists against only one turnover. It was also a fairly engaged game for him on defense – he poked out three steals as well. Onyeka Okongwu also looked good in his return by scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds on 4-7 shooting from deep.

More Movement, More Problems

One of the fun parts of this game was the ball movement both teams showed at time. Charlotte is a team that prioritizes ball movement and it showed up at several big points in this game. Atlanta actualy did a good job of matching that at points and they had fewer turnovers than the Hornets. However, they weren’t able to capitalize on the ill-advised turnovers and mistakes that Charlotte made.

LaMelo Ball had a critical turnover down the stretch where he turned it over while attempting to score and Kon Knueppel wasn’t able to shake free from CJ McCollum for a lot of the second half. However, both players showed up when the Hornets needed them most. Knueppel hit a dagger three while Ball sunk the free throws that ultimately ended up winning it for the Hornets.

The Hawks will head to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves next.

More Atlanta Hawks News: