Saturday night was not a fun occasion for the Atlanta Hawks.
Not only did they lose to the Houston Rockets by 47 points, but they also watched James Harden go for 60 points in just three quarters.
Hawks point guard Trae Young understands just how embarrassing the loss was, and he is not going to forget it anytime soon:
Trae Young was understandably frustrated after the Hawks' 158-111 loss to the Rockets.
“I don’t forget about it. I don’t forget about stuff like this. It’s embarrassing to me and it’s something I hold onto and it’s something that I try to not let happen again.”
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) December 1, 2019
“I’m pissed off. I’m mad. It’s frustrating. Losing that much and losing that bad, it’s never acceptable… For me, I’m mad, and all I can do, all we can do as a team is change it on the court. We can’t really talk about it anymore.”
— Trae Young
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) December 1, 2019
The Hawks fell to 4-16 with the loss, dead-last in the Eastern Conference and tied with the Golden State Warriors for the worst record in the NBA.
This was supposed to be the year that Young blossomed into an All-Star and Atlanta's young core made a push for the playoffs. But while Young has been superb this year–averaging 28.4 points, 8.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds–he has not been able to make up for a team that struggles to score and whose youth is consistently exploited on the defensive end of the floor.
Atlanta is still without big man John Collins after he was suspended for 25 games earlier this month, and they are consistently forced to play small. Jabari Parker has been a positive addition for his scoring ability and efficiency, but he is not a very good defender.
To make matters worse, the 2019 draft class is underperforming. De'Andre Hunter is shooting less than 40 percent from the field, and he has not been the same kind of versatile defender as he was at Virginia. Meanwhile, Cam Reddish is shooting a woeful 28.7 percent and barely over 21 percent from beyond the arc.
There is still a long way to go, but Young has to be frustrated with his team's lack of growth.
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