1. The Hawks knew going into the matchup that they had a tall task ahead of them with the Rockets playing centers Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams together. The Hawks just could not get shots to fall despite their constant probes to attack the basket.
“We struggled with it in the first half, especially getting the gaps and stuff,” Hawks guard Dyson Daniels said. “And I think as we started to figure it out, that’s when we went on our run. We’d get in the middle, kick out 3s. Against the zone, you have to make shots and you’re gonna get open shots, it’s just about making them. We weren’t making them first half and second half they started dropping. So, yeah that’s the only way to beat a zone is make shots, because they protect the paint really well with the two bigs in there.”
2. One way the Hawks did figure out how to handle the Rockets’ zone was with the lineup of Daniels, Terance Mann, Vit Krejci and Onyeka Okongwu. The five burst out to a 29-8 run that pulled the Hawks back into the game.
The combination of their length and size allowed them to string together multiple stops that the Rockets just didn’t know how to handle. The Hawks also figured out how to get those stops despite Okongwu dealing with some foul trouble.
The Hawks center picked up his fourth foul with 4:52 to play in the third quarter but that didn’t stop him from attacking the boards to keep the Rockets off the glass.
3. The Rockets pressured Hawks guard Trae Young, forcing four turnovers to just three assists by the end of the first quarter. But he eventually found holes in their defense, scoring 11 points in two minutes on three 3s and a layup.
“Even from the beginning of the game, I think I started off, missed my first three shots,” Young said. “I think all three of them, I feel like could have went in and should have went in. They just went in and out. I just wanted to be aggressive and still try to figure out where I could get my shots at. And I couldn’t really find it.”
Young eventually finished with 19 points and 12 assists, finding Daniels for a pair of triples on back-to-back possessions that cut the deficit to six with 44.5 seconds left.
4. Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher has had some explosive scoring quarters lately with the latest scoring barrage opening Tuesday’s game. Risacher scored eight points in his first seven minutes of action. His aggressive pursuit of the basket helped the Hawks to get out to a 14-0 run after the Rockets jumped out to a 9-2 run early in the game.
But the 19-year-old’s one-man scoring barrage began with 7:34 to play in the first. He blew by Jalen Green from the elbow before jumping into the air and switching the ball from his right hand to his left to avoid Sengun’s attempt to block the shot.
“I drove and I was trying to get to the rim, and then I saw him, and I just figured that he would block my shot if I was going with my right hand,” Risacher said.
He finished with 18 points, putting up double-digit scoring for the sixth straight game, as well as four rebounds.
5. The Hawks’ loss to the Rockets did not help their case to hold on to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. With the Magic winning their last three games, the Hawks sit just a half game ahead of them in the standings.
On top of that, the Bulls (three games back) have also won their last three games, while the Heat (four games back) have had victories in their past two games.
Stat to know
0 – The Hawks gave up 20 second-chance points off of 11 offensive rebounds in the first half but held the Rockets to zero second-chance points on three offensive boards in the second.
Quotable
“It was a different game. They sat in the zone the whole game. And, credit to them. They’re good at it.” Dyson Daniels on how the Rockets gave the Hawks trouble early.
Up Next
The Hawks head to South Beach to face the Miami Heat on Thursday.
