Hawks Winning Steak Snapped, Remain Favorite in the East
The streak is over. The Atlanta Hawks lost to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night snapping their 19-game winning streak and missing an opportunity to become just the fifth team in NBA history to win 20 consecutive games.
Atlanta however showed their dominance during their 19 straight wins. The Hawks averaged 105 points per game while allowing just 93.6. Atlanta shot 47.5% while allowing its opponents just 42.4%. From 3-point territory, Atlanta shot 40.5% and its opponents just 33.4%
The loss broke not only the 19-game winning streak, but snapped the Hawks 12-game winning streak on the road, their winning streak of 12 games against Western Conference opponents and the team’s 23-game winning streak when scoring 100 points or more.
The day was not only tough for Atlanta. The three teams with the best records in the Eastern Conference all lost on Monday. Toronto fell to Charlotte and Washington to Milwaukee. It marked the first time all season that each of the three teams lost the same day.
Atlanta’s defeat was due in a large part thanks to Anthony Davis being healthy for New Orleans. The talented big man for the Pelicans scored 29 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. It was his fifth consecutive 20-10 game, which is a career high for Davis.
Add to that, the play of Tyreke Evans who scored 15 points and dished out 12 assists. Evans has only had 12 assists or more in 9 games during his career, but four of those games have been in his last 5 played.
Atlanta finished with just seven 3-point baskets. The Hawks scored at least 9 during each of their last 15 games. New Orleans also blocked 10 of Atlanta’s shots, the most since December 27.
New Orleans was able to outrebound Atlanta by 20, which is the worst margin for Atlanta this season. The Hawks were never really in the game. The last lead in the game for Atlanta was with five minutes left in the first quarter.
Prior to the winning streak, the Hawks were listed as having just a 13% change of making the postseason as the top seed in the East. That number currently is 97% even with Monday’s loss. During the 19-game winning streak, Atlanta moved from one game out of first in the East to seven games in front.
Atlanta was third in the league in offensive as well as defensive efficiency during its streak. The Hawks won 10 games during the streak against teams .500 or better while winning 10 games by 10 points or more.
The upcoming schedule for Atlanta is tough, as they will play over the next three games Washington, Golden State and Memphis, who are 66 games above .500 between them.
