November 4, 2015, Queens, NY The Brooklyn Nets fell to 0-5 after losing to the Atlanta Hawks 101-87. The fourth quarter proved to be the Nets undoing as they “caught a cold.” Al Horford led the Hawks scoring 21 points on 8/10 shooting to go with 8 boards and 2 blocks. Brook Lopez led the way for the Nets with 25 points and 11 boards, achieving his second double-double of the young season.
The Nets losing to the Hawks in Atlanta is not a rarity; in fact, the Nets have lost their last six games at Philips Arena and are 22-60 all-time in ATL. The Nets were down 84-82 with eight minutes left in the game, but then the Hawks went on a 17-5 run. Thaddeus Young continued his impressive play dropping 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and Bojan Bogdanovic and Wayne Ellington scored 12 and 9 points respectively. Joe Johnson shot 1-10 (5 points) to go with 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
Dennis Schroder scored 20 points, and Jeff Teague added 16 for the Hawks. The Nets out rebounded the Hawks 43-34 but came up short in terms of field goal percentage shooting at a 43.4% clip compared to the Hawks who made 48.7% of their shots. The charity stripe told the real story. The Nets made 10 of 13 free throws while the Hawks made 19 of 24 for an 11-point differential from the line. The Hawks also dished out three more assists 27 to 24.
The 5-1 Hawks face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday while the Nets return to Barclays Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers, also on Friday.
Professor Clifford Benton can be reached at @cliffordbenton.