The Atlanta Hawks just got demolished in Game 1 of their first round series versus the Miami Heat. The first seed from the Eastern Conference won 115-91, as they look to set the tone for the series.
Atlanta, hopeful after two wins in the play-in tournament, did not put up much of a fight. Despite some good signs from the likes of Danilo Gallinari, who dropped 17 points, the Hawks were generally abysmal. While it was the team that lost the game, there are still some players to put the responsibility on.
Here are the three Hawks players most to blame for the Game 1 demolition at the hands of the Heat.
Hawks Players Most To Blame For Game 1 Loss To Heat
3. Trae Young
If a player wants to lead a franchise to glory, as Trae Young wants to do, he cannot have games like this. There are poor games, granted, for any player in the NBA. However, there are multiple issues with how Ice Trae went about in this Game 1 blowout that the Hawks suffered.
First, let's look at the stats. Young had just eight points on 1-of-12 shooting, while going 0-for-7 from behind the arc. His only points really came from a layup with 17.3 seconds left in the first quarter. After dropping two great games in the play-in, the Hawks superstar must be held responsible for losing a game in this fashion.
However, the greater problem is that the last shot Young took in this game was in the third quarter. Granted, he then checked out and did not play for the rest of the contest, but since he is primarily a shooter, it could have been good for his confidence to watch at least one three drop in the basket in the fourth quarter. It is definitely an injury risk, as the Hawks could lose their star to an unfortunate injury in a meaningless quarter, but it would have done wonders for his confidence, especially since he could be hesitant to shoot in the second game of this series.
Without Trae Young shooting the ball, the Hawks really do not have much of a chance to win even one quarter of one game in this series, let alone a game or even the entire round.
2. Bogdan Bogdanovic
Bogdan Bogdanovic had two great games in the play-in tournament and was a massive help to the Hawks' effort to even make it to this series versus the Heat. He dropped an efficient 19 versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, connecting on six out of eight of his shots. However, this game against the Heat is one he needs to forget soon. Coming off the bench, the Serbian player missed all eight of his shots, including four 3-point attempts.
If it was not for six free throws, Bogdanovic would not even record a point in the contest. That is completely unacceptable for a scorer off the bench, especially one that can definitely dial it up.
In the regular season, Bogdanovic was a real spark off the bench for the Hawks. He averaged 15.1 points per game and shot 36 percent from behind the arc. The Hawks sorely missed some offensive magic from the sniper, while some of his shots falling would not bring them any closer to winning this game, it would have potentially helped them make the Heat sweat it out. If he drops a game similar to this in Game 2, it will be much of the same for the Hawks, something they really do not need.
What the Hawks really need is for Bogdanovic to drop a huge bounce-back game and they will then have a chance of winning Game 2.
In the grand scheme of things, Kevin Huerter making all of his eight shots this game, rather than just three, would not win given the Hawks the W. However, if Atlanta wants to win the series, Huerter needs to be more active.
With Clint Capela out for at least one week and John Collins just recently returning to action, there is not much that the team has going on offensively. Of course, Young is here, but there are other pieces that need to step up. Comparatively, Huerter had a better game than both Bogdanovic and Young, but it just is not enough.
With the Heat allowing the eighth-most threes in the league this year, there will be chances for the Hawks shooters to get open. Huerter needs to be there and capitalize since going inside will not be an option without Capela. If the Hawks want a shot at turning things around, Hurter needs to be more aggressive in scoring. Once again, it is important to mention that Huerter was far from the worst on his team, but he needs to be better going forward.
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