Why CJ McCollum believes Hawks didn’t deserve to beat Heat

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Hawks started the second half of the season with a road win, an environment in which they’ve been quite comfortable this year. Coming into Friday, the Hawks were 17-15 on the road.

It’s the home games where they tend to slip up (10-16 record), and that was the case in their 128-97 loss to the Miami Heat. The Hawks came out flat to start the game, while the Heat were clicking on both sides of the ball.

It was the second quarter where the Hawks came alive, and with a run that started with Corey Kispert and CJ McCollum, they saw a 15-point deficit disappear.

“We played with better pace,” McCollum said. “We got out and ran. I think the first quarter, we kind of got our sea legs back and didn’t get out and run. Didn’t get stops. 

“Second quarter, we got out and ran. Corey got a dunk and a transition three. Got some rim pressure, got some kick out threes from eyes out. I think that was the difference.”

The Hawks went into halftime down 57-51 and with a little momentum. Unfortunately, they went back into their old habits, and the Heat didn’t look back in the second half, grabbing a 34-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“They went to zone to start the fourth quarter, and I think that changed the game,” McCollum said. “They took advantage of some turnovers and missed shots. I don’t think we did enough to win. [Tyler] Herro got off. He got too much freedom, too much space in his pick and roll, and too much space in his pull-ups. I think a lot of guys hurt us tonight, and I think we didn’t deserve to win this game.”

The Heat had 72 points in the paint to the Hawks’ 38. They were outrebounded 58-46. Plus, they had 20 points off of their turnovers. The only thing that went well for the Hawks in this game was that they shot 42% from the three-point line, but that still wasn’t good enough to win.

“I think when we’re consistent with the game plan, and we come out and execute the game plan, that’s when we’re at our best. I don’t think we did a good job of executing the game plan tonight,” Jalen Johnson said.

The Hawks were coming off a back-to-back, but they didn’t use that as an excuse for the loss.

“I would’ve liked to go to sleep before 3 am last night, but they beat us,” McCollum said. “It is what it is. They came out, they played better than us. They got off to a good start. They got points in transition, they got threes, they got rim pressure. They did whatever they wanted tonight. So back-to-back or not, they did enough to win, and we didn’t do enough.”

The Hawks have four straight games to right their wrongs for their home woes this season, and they come against opponents who haven’t played the best this year.

“The chances are right in front of us. We just got to go out there and get it. We got another chance on Sunday to regroup, and tomorrow for us to watch film and get better,” Johnson said.

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