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Hawks blow late lead against Mavericks, continuing the season’s troubling trend

A lot of the focus for Wednesday night’s nationally televised game between the Hawks and Dallas Mavericks will be placed on the final possession and whether Trae Young got fouled...[but] the Hawks should not have been in the position they were in with 4.7 seconds left in the first place because they blew a 13-point lead they held midway through the third quarter and a nine-point lead to start the fourth quarter. The entire fourth quarter was an offensive showcase for Dallas.

That was the reason the Hawks lost the game. Atlanta struggling in the fourth quarter this season has been a recurring theme. The Hawks are 9-7 when holding a lead after the third quarter; only Detroit and Minnesota — two of the worst teams in the NBA — have a worse winning percentage in that situation. The Hawks have a minus-2.7 point differential in the fourth quarter, which ranks last in the NBA. They’re scoring 26.2 points per game in the fourth quarter, which ranks 24th, and opponents are scoring 28.9 points per game, with only Washington giving up more points in the fourth.

Finishing games was a problem for the Hawks last season, and it has continued.

The Hawks have an accountability problem that needs to be fixed fast

Lloyd Pierce’s postgame rant Friday night fell on deaf ears...then the Hawks, once again, collapsed in the fourth quarter in a 125-113 loss to [Indiana]. The Hawks are now 9-7 when holding a lead heading into the fourth quarter. They’ve lost nine games when they’ve held a lead at any point in the fourth quarter. Even after Friday night’s lopsided fourth-quarter score in favor of the Hawks, the team is getting outscored by an average of two points per game in the fourth. Only Oklahoma City, a team that’s supposed to be tanking this season, is worse.

The fourth quarter has been the culprit in most games for the Hawks. They’ve given up 28.8 points per game in the fourth quarter, the second-most in the league. Only Washington is worse. It’s as if the strategy opposing teams have against the Hawks is to not show their cards until the fourth because the Hawks have shown a propensity to blow leads late.

At some point, someone has to take accountability for what’s going on. Continually blowing leads in the fourth quarter is an indictment of the coaching staff’s inability to get this team in the right spots to win games. Players not making open shots and having defensive mental lapses are on them. The players and coaches don’t appear to be on the same page as to who’s at fault and if it is a collective issue. This has to get sorted out quickly; otherwise, it has the potential to get worse fast.

I asked Pierce if there was something to which he can attribute the team’s fourth-quarter struggles. Here’s what he said:

“We didn’t make any shots down the stretch. They made every shot down the stretch. I thought we had great looks. Cam (Reddish) had two good looks. (Danilo Gallinari) had a couple of good looks. Kevin (Huerter) had a couple of good looks. I think John (Collins) had one. We didn’t capitalize on some open looks in the fourth. I think they had three straight. Aaron Holiday really got going and attacked the basket. From a shot-making standpoint, we didn’t capitalize on it (Saturday).”

Jamaaliver wrote:

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I asked Pierce if there was something to which he can attribute the team’s fourth-quarter struggles. Here’s what he said:

“We didn’t make any shots down the stretch. They made every shot down the stretch. I thought we had great looks. Cam (Reddish) had two good looks. (Danilo Gallinari) had a couple of good looks. Kevin (Huerter) had a couple of good looks. I think John (Collins) had one. We didn’t capitalize on some open looks in the fourth. I think they had three straight. Aaron Holiday really got going and attacked the basket. From a shot-making standpoint, we didn’t capitalize on it (Saturday).”

The Athletic

shakes0 wrote:

Jamaaliver wrote:

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I asked Pierce if there was something to which he can attribute the team’s fourth-quarter struggles. Here’s what he said:

“We didn’t make any shots down the stretch. They made every shot down the stretch. I thought we had great looks. Cam (Reddish) had two good looks. (Danilo Gallinari) had a couple of good looks. Kevin (Huerter) had a couple of good looks. I think John (Collins) had one. We didn’t capitalize on some open looks in the fourth. I think they had three straight. Aaron Holiday really got going and attacked the basket. From a shot-making standpoint, we didn’t capitalize on it (Saturday).”

The Athletic

tl:dr = Pierce says "it's the players' fault"

Jamaaliver wrote:Turns out, it was the coaching:

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