Good, bad, ugly: Hawks ‘need to be better defensively’ after loss to Bulls

“In the first half (Sunday), our transition defense wasn’t as good as good as it needs to be,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “But by and large, we need to be better defensively. So I can give you a number of things. It wasn’t one particular thing that impacted, it was a lot.”

The good

The Hawks saw the chemistry between Young and Johnson, and it looked like the two never missed a beat. Young and Johnson combined for 71 points.

Young had an efficient night, making 10 of 16 shots. He knocked down seven 3-pointers and worked within the flow of the Hawks’ offense. He dished nine assists.

Johnson went 12-of-21 overall, playing through the Bulls’ physicality and earning 11 trips to the free-throw line. Johnson, Young and Dyson Daniels each had nine assists.

The bad

While Young and Johnson got into rhythm on offense, Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker did not. Alexander-Walker had what, as of late, would be categorized as an off night, where shots consistently fell off target.

In the 27 games leading to Sunday’s game, Alexander-Walker shot 46% overall and 38% from 3, while averaging 20.7 points per game.

But on Sunday, Alexander-Walker did not make his first field goal until the second half. Alexander-Walker was so far off his usual rhythm that he whiffed a wide-open transition dunk, while going 0-of-5 in the first half.

Alexander-Walker, though, hit some a couple of timely shots in the second half as the Hawks tried to rally back.

The ugly

The Hawks scored 150 points Sunday afternoon. On a typical day or night in the NBA, that would win a game. But what won’t help a team’s attempt to win is giving up 152 points.

Sunday’s outing was the Hawks’ worst defensive effort of the season so far.

The Hawks allowed 123.7 points per 100 possessions that began in the half court, according Cleaning the Glass. That ranked the Bulls in the 97th percentile among teams that played games Sunday.

On top of that, the Hawks struggled to shut down the Bulls’ possessions, such as allowing a second-chance 3 from Matas Buzelis just a little over three minutes into the fourth quarter.