Hawks can't make shots, NBA Cup run ends with loss to Bucks

Lauren Williams, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Dec 14, 2024

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LAS VEGAS — The Atlanta Hawks’ run in the NBA Cup came to an end on Saturday when they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 110-102 in the semifinals at T-Mobile Arena.

Here are five observations:

1. The Hawks had plenty of opportunities in the fourth quarter to advance to the finals. They fought hard but the more-seasoned Bucks team got the better of them in the end.

The Hawks went 1 of 7 from the floor in the final five minutes, despite the Bucks being up only by one or two possessions.

The Hawks had a chance to tie the game with free throws from Dyson Daniels but he split them. They had a chance to go up one with 4:47 to play but De’Andre Hunter’s hook shot rolled off the basket. Then they let Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo leak out and Khris Middleton found him for an easy shot right under the basket.

While the Hawks fought hard down to the final buzzer, they couldn’t generate enough offense down the stretch.

“I think the story line for me is just how we compete, and that our consistency in that area is the most important thing that I think we have to do to continue to try to build an identity,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “And this was an opportunity this whole tournament, to play in some situations and some games against really good teams, and try to do that. And you find out about yourself. You find out when you’re in a game like this, you’re able to look back and say, we need to do this better. And we did this pretty well.”

2. Hawks guard Trae Young did some heavy lifting in the first half, scoring 12 of the Hawks’ 49 points. But he went on a heater in the third quarter doing just about everything to try and get the Hawks on the right side of the scoreboard.

They fell behind the Bucks quickly in the third but Young dropped 14 of his 35 points in the quarter. He made all but one of his overall shots including a 27-foot 3 to cut the deficit to 75-73 after trailing by as many as eight.

It’s the first time since Jan. 15 against the Spurs that Young scored 10-plus points by shooting 85% or better from the floor in a single quarter.

Young also took advantage at the free-throw line, making 14 of 17 attempts. He got to the line by keeping the Bucks on his back and pulling up to draw the contact.

3. Young stepped up the defensive end too, not allowing the Bucks to bully him. He didn’t yield much space when Middleton tried to post him up in the third quarter. He didn’t fall for spin moves and he never gave up on contesting threes.

On one possession in the third, Young sprinted from one side of the floor to the other on a closeout to prevent a 3 from Bucks wing AJ Green. Then he blocked Green’s shot a few seconds later.

“The defensive end is going to get us where we really want to go, especially when where I want to go,” Young said.

4. The Bucks received the same from Antetokounmpo. He bodied the Hawks, hitting some tough shots including a turnaround baseline jumper for his 30th point and scored eight of the Bucks’ last 12 points.

He punished the Hawks at the rim on both ends of the floor including a block that broke up a lob from Young to Clint Capela in the fourth quarter. It could have cut the Hawks’ deficit to three with 2:35 left in the game.

Antetokounmpo ended the afternoon one assist shy of a triple-double with 32 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, four blocks and one steal.

5. Along with the lack of offense toward the end of the game, the Hawks left a lot of points at the free-throw line. The Hawks made 78% of their free throws coming into Saturday’s game, but they went 22 of 34 from the line against the Bucks.

Stat to know

2 - The Hawks shot 43.1% on their two-pointers, roughly 9.1% below the league’s 54.2% average, while the Bucks made 61% of theirs.

Quotable

“I’m proud of everybody. We defied a lot of odds coming in and making it all the way to Vegas. There’s nothing to hang our heads about. We just gotta keep moving in the right direction.” -- Jalen Johnson on the takeaways from the NBA Cup.

Up next

The Hawks have the next four days off before they face the Spurs in San Antonio Thursday.

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