After a brutal loss, the Hawks face the Cavaliers seeking to rebound and address lingering defensive issues. Can they reset and find their winning rhythm?
The Atlanta Hawks had every chance to stretch their winning streak to three. Instead, they walked out of Washington with their most humbling defeat of the season — a 132-113 loss to a Washington Wizards team that entered the night 1-15 and riding a 14-game skid.
Now, with Cleveland coming to town for a Black Friday matchup, the Hawks will try to shake off a performance that exposed several of the issues that have followed them through the opening month of the season. Atlanta has won seven of its last 10, but Tuesday’s blowout was their worst loss since the season opener and served as a harsh reminder that progress remains fragile without Trae Young, who remains out with a sprained right MCL.
Atlanta and Cleveland have met once this season, a 117-109 Cavaliers win on Nov. 2. Friday marks the second of four matchups, and while Cleveland has taken four of the last six overall, the Hawks have won the past two meetings at home.
The schedule offered little relief for Atlanta ahead of the collapse in Washington. It was their 10th consecutive game followed by a flight, their third contest in four nights, and their 17th in a 31-day span. Even so, the defensive letdowns were glaring. The Hawks have shown impressive stretches on that end without Young, but those stretches have been interrupted by some brutal nights. They surrendered 122 points to Utah, 135 to San Antonio and nearly 140 to Washington, where CJ McCollum carved them up in half-court and transition actions.
Kristaps Porzingis delivered offensively, using his size to lead Atlanta in scoring. Defensively, though, the fluency was missing. His struggles guarding in space have become a recurring theme, raising the question of whether the Hawks should consider shifting him into a bench role and elevating Onyeka Okongwu, who has been the more consistent two-way option this season.
Dyson Daniels has similarly cycled between bright spots and setbacks. He turned in his best outing of the year Sunday in Charlotte — 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists — only to follow it with an 11-point, 5-for-11 shooting night in Washington. His defense remains a strength, but Atlanta has needed more steadiness from him as a complementary playmaker.
Even with those concerns, the Hawks were quick to reject the notion that Tuesday’s result is anything more than a single night gone sideways, especially given Washington’s unsustainably hot shooting and Atlanta’s heavy legs after weeks of constant travel.
“We’ve got to learn from this. But we’ve got to scrap it quick and move on to the next one,” Daniels said.
Forward Mouhamed Gueye echoed the urgency to reset after the loss removed Atlanta from NBA Cup contention.
“So just kind of flush it off and focus on the next one and just do what we do next time,” Gueye said. “We play defense — we pride ourselves on that — just from the jump.”
The Hawks will need that mindset against a Cleveland team that, despite missing six rotation players in its Monday loss to Toronto, has won four of six and remained competitive under head coach Kenny Atkinson. Donovan Mitchell enters averaging 29.9 points, while Evan Mobley adds 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds. Mitchell has historically thrived against Atlanta, posting 25.7 points per game in 18 career outings.
Atkinson expressed satisfaction with his undermanned squad’s fight in Monday’s loss.
“Your standard is your competition level and I thought we competed,” Atkinson said. “I liked our spirit and I liked how we competed.”
He singled out reserve forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who logged nearly 32 minutes and has earned increasing trust.
“You can’t take him off the floor,” Atkinson said. “He can defend his position, he has great energy, he can get back in transition, can do damage in offensive transition. That guy is going to help us win big games. I feel like he belongs.”
The Hawks will again lean on Jalen Johnson, who has taken on a central leadership role in Young’s absence and is averaging 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and seven assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker has also emerged as a crucial engine, averaging 18.6 points and topping 20 points seven times — already a career high for a single season.
Whether Atlanta can rediscover its rhythm will hinge on tightening defensive breakdowns and shoring up concerns around Porzingis and Daniels. The Wizards’ eruption may not be repeatable, but the lapses that led to it are familiar.
Friday’s home floor offers an opportunity to stabilize — and a reminder that, even without Young, the Hawks have shown enough to avoid panic, provided they address the issues that Tuesday night made impossible to ignore.