On Wednesday evening, the Atlanta Hawks dropped to 6-5 on the young 2023-24 NBA season with a tough 116-114 home loss to the New York Knicks. Although Atlanta battled back to take a seven-point lead with around five minutes remaining, the Knicks would respond with eight straight points out of a timeout and ultimately held on down the stretch for the victory.

One area where the Hawks struggled mightily on Wednesday was the rebounding department, and after the game, Atlanta point guard Trae Young broke down the team's shortcomings in that area.

“I don't think there was really just one big issue,” said Young, per Bally Sports: Hawks. “I think the offensive rebounding hurt us in a couple of moments. We didn't box out and take the cutters, and they got some second chance points that we allowed them to get. I think if we'd have done that, we would have done a little bit better for sure.”

Although several things weren't exactly up to par for the Hawks in the Knicks loss (including Young's shooting, which continues to be an issue this year), if Atlanta had just been relatively average on the glass on Wednesday, they likely would have won. Instead, New York outrebounded Atlanta 42-30, including 14 to six on the offensive glass, spoiling what was a great night for Hawks sharpshooters Saddiq Bey and Bogdan Bogdanovic off of the bench.

Atlanta is now hoping to avoid falling back into the cycle of mediocrity that has defined them for each of the last two seasons.