The Hawks already saw the formula Houston used to beat them, and it wasn’t built on a barrage of threes. It was built on the right shooters getting clean looks, plus Amen Thompson keeping pressure on the rim and the glass. Atlanta will get another crack at the Rockets tonight, and Quin Snyder made it clear where the fixes need to start.
Houston handed Atlanta its first loss of the season on Oct. 24, 121-114, even though the Hawks held their own in a lot of the box score. The difference came from deep, where Atlanta went 13-for-49 while the Rockets finished 14-for-35. The Hawks actually won the points-in-the-paint battle, 58-46, but they left too much room for Houston’s perimeter threats.
Reed Sheppard was the clearest example. Starting in place of the resting Fred VanVleet, he put up 19 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and two steals while going 5-for-11 from three.
Atlanta kept losing him on the arc, and he made them pay for every slip. Former Hawk Bogdan "Bogi" Bogdanović did damage off the bench too, scoring 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting from deep in 20 minutes.
Snyder pointed directly at those breakdowns after the game.
"Sheppard and Bogi's threes, those were some breakdowns that we got to clean up. Those guys are really good shooters.
We know that. Someone might have a hot night, but we have to limit their attempts ...
We can play better," said Snyder.
The message was less about made shots and more about how many open tries Houston was allowed to generate. Atlanta has to chase shooters over screens, stay connected on rotations, and deny the easy space that turned Sheppard and Bogdanović into problems.
Then there’s Thompson, who gave the Hawks a different kind of headache. He posted 17 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and a steal in 39 minutes, knocking down all nine of his free throws even though he shot just 4-for-12 from the field.
He didn’t take a three, but he still forced Atlanta to deal with constant pressure in the lane. Three of his assists fed Bogdanović and Sheppard threes, which made his impact even bigger than the scoring line suggests.
The next step for Atlanta is obvious: keep Thompson away from the rim, finish possessions with rebounds, and stop handing Houston extra chances. If the Hawks clean up those issues, they’ll give themselves a much better shot at getting back in the win column.
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