BROOKLYN -- Two competitive wins at Philips Arena helped the Atlanta Hawks protect home-court advantage and build a 2-0 series lead, but their issues were too pronounced to bury the Brooklyn Nets for the seventh straight game this season, losing 91-83 in Saturday's Game 3 showdown. Here are three observations from the low-scoring affair:
THREE-POINT TAKE
1. Atlanta snaps 2015 NBA trend of playoff dominance
It's been an historic opening round for the NBA playoffs -- at least for the favorites. For the first time under the current playoff format, introduced in 1984, five different teams own 3-0 leads. The Hawks had the opportunity to stretch that reign of dominance to six teams … but fell far short against, on paper, the worst team in the 16-team field. Atlanta's playoff road opener was an absolute clunker.
The Brooklyn Nets returned home and continued to knock the Hawks off their top form, locking down defensively and capitalizing on mistakes from the typically efficient Eastern Conference power. The Hawks have, at times, lumbered through this series, relying on big runs to cover up stretches of bad basketball.
It worked in Atlanta. It didn't in Game 3.
The No. 1 seed now faces a scenario where it needs to play better in Game 4 or face the possibility of allowing this series to get back to square one. What does this mean in the long run? Not too much, as of right now. It proves that the Hawks cannot coast through this series while playing poorly, but they still hold the home-court advantage and are still the best team here. They just haven't played like it.
2. Hawks series-long shooting woes continue
The Atlanta Hawks are not necessarily over-reliant on their shooting proficiency -- they ranked sixth in both offensive and defensive efficiency -- but they could use more of it in this series. After finishing the regular season with the third-best true shooting percentage (56.3) in the NBA, the Hawks have yet to truly find their rhythm against the Nets. Those issues hit their lowest point in the first half of Game 3, as they shot just 37.5 percent and hit just four of their 16 3-point attempts. They never really got things going in the second, either, but it's been a series-long problem.
The Hawks have not yet taken full advantage of their outside shooting advantage in this series, hitting just over 30 percent from long range. In Game 3, they matched the second-lowest outside shooting percentage in NBA playoffs history (20) for a team attempting 30 or more 3-pointers.
After leading the team in playing scoring through the first two games, Kyle Korver went ice-cold in Brooklyn. Jeff Teague, Pero Antic, Kent Bazemore, Dennis Schroder and Mike Scott missed all but one of their 15 3-pointers. Really, outside of DeMarre Carroll, who was the lone offensive bright spot for Atlanta, the blame for the horrid shooting can be spread around rather evenly.
The Hawks finished Game 3 with their second-lowest playoff point total in the Mike Budenholzer Era, just ahead of their 80-point losing effort against the top-seeded Indiana Pacers last season. It was their seventh-lowest scoring game over that span. Not good.
3. Hawks need better point guard play
Part of the problem with the Hawks on the offensive end has been the play of point guards Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder. Aside from a few brief stretches, neither player has performed well through the first three games of this series.
For the better part of the season, this was an area of strength for Atlanta. Teague received his first All-Star selection. Schroder was one of the most dangerous reserve point guards in the league, a much-improved change-of-pace option that wreaked havoc on opposing defenses.
Thus far, decision-making has been an issue. Not just turnovers, either, but finding the right pass or the right time to attack the basket. All of this has been a problem. The two guards combined to go 5 for 22 from the floor, logging 15 points, eight assists and six turnovers.
That will likely still get them out of the first round, as they remain heavy favorites in this best-of-seven, but Budenholzer needs more moving forward -- starting with Game 4, if he can get it.
STATS THAT MATTER
15: The Hawks committed 15 turnovers in the game, including 10 in the first half.
20: Atlanta attempted 30 3-pointers, making only 20 percent of them.
