The Atlanta Hawks are in the midst of a six-game, two-week road trip that began in Toronto and will finish in Phoenix. While the journey began on a high note with a lopsided win over the Raptors, the Hawks experienced a hiccup with a blowout loss in Denver and endured a rough weekend in Los Angeles.
On Friday, the Hawks had their worst three-point shooting game of the 2024-25 season. Atlanta tied its season low with six three-pointers and, in addition, shot its worst three-point percentage of the campaign, connecting on fewer than 20 percent of attempts. That combination essentially guaranteed a loss against a quality Lakers team, even as the Hawks were competitive in other areas.
24 hours later, the Hawks made their first-ever trip to Intuit Dome to face the Los Angeles Clippers, and the offensive results were similar. This time, the shooting improved for Atlanta, but the Hawks committed 23 turnovers that led directly to 32 points for the Clippers. In addition, the Hawks posted a hilariously dismal 68.8 offensive rating in 14 minutes without Trae Young on the court, totally collapsing without their lead option at the helm.
All told, the Hawks were competitive defensively in both games, but Atlanta simply failed to produce acceptable offensive efficiency. In the two games, the Hawks scored 0.986 points per possession, the worst mark of any team in the league over the weekend. Atlanta also had the worst true shooting percentage (50.9 percent) of any club in that sample, and it was a rough time.
Fortunately, Atlanta is still at .500 after this unappealing stretch, but the Locked on Hawks podcast chronicled both matchups in great depth over the weekend.
