High scoring affair goes in Grizzlies favor as Hawks drop to 0-2

The Atlanta Hawks fell to 0-2 on a Friday evening, succumbing to the Memphis Grizzlies by a final score of 124-113.

“Uncle” Vince Carter started off the night on the right foot for the Hawks with this sick sidestep three pointer, but after that things went downhill quickly for Atlanta.

Several minutes later in the first quarter, as the Hawks were already in a hole, Trae Young gave fans something to smile about with this smooth pick and roll drop off to Alex Len for the easy jam.

It was apparent in the first quarter that the Hawks will miss the versatility that John Collins and Dewayne Dedmon bring to the team while they recover on the shelf. Atlanta’s scoring output was decent in the first quarter, but you cant allow 37 points and feel good about it.

The second quarter wasn’t much better. but at least DeAndre’ Bembry attempted some defense, right?

In fact, that play might have been the only defense played in the second quarter that saw the Hawks allow 40 more points to get the Grizzlies to 77 total for the first half. It’s been repeated steadily on this website that this Hawks team might be one of the worst defensive units in Atlanta history, but things are looking even worse than expected as of now. Atlanta was able to keep themselves in contention with 61 points of their own in the first half, but being down 16 at the half isn’t ideal.

Apparently, Coach Pierce got his players’ attention at halftime because the defensive intensity in the third quarter was noticeably higher.

For their effort on defense, the effort on offense was lost outside of a few good looking plays like this Kevin Huerter drop off to Alex Len in the lane.

The Hawks scratched and clawed in the third, but they still found themselves down 26 at the end of three in Memphis to a Grizzlies team that lost their opener by nearly 30 points.

Atlanta saved their best basketball for the fourth quarter as Taurean Prince and Trae Young got rolling.

Taurean looks confident in the early going this season which is a good sign for the young Hawks who are actively searching for a leader among their younger players.

The Hawks only allowed 18 points in the fourth quarter while scoring 31, but sadly, the hole they dug earlier in the game was too deep to get out of as Atlanta went on to lose by an 11-point margin.

Trae Young finished a stellar performance with 20 points and 9 assists, just missing out on his first career double-double.

Taurean Prince finished with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists while doing a little of everything for Atlanta.

The Hawks will be back in action on Sunday night in Cleveland for an early evening matchup with the Cavaliers. Stay tuned.