Quick rematch: Hawks to face Nets again this afternoon

Brooklyn roared out to 1st-quarter lead, coasted to win Thursday.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Hawks return to Barclays Center today for an afternoon matinee rematch against the Nets.

Thursday night, the Hawks allowed the Nets, a team that entered the game shooting 36.2% on 3-point shots, to get comfortable early. The Nets, particularly forward Cam Johnson, were able to take several uncontested shots in the first quarter, which ended with the Nets leading by 18. Brooklyn won 124-97.

Johnson went 3-of-4 from long range in the first period and ended the night 7-of-11, with his makes coming on uncontested baskets. He finished with a season-high 29 points. When the Hawks rotated in time to contest a shot, he missed.

“A huge percentage of their shots were uncontested early. And actually when we did contest, it was always the case, the make is (low) percentage,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder at practice Friday. “So that was one thing defensively that allowed them to get off on the run that they did.”

The Hawks rank eighth in the NBA in average contested 3’s per game, at 17.6 per game, which ranks up there with some of the league’s top defensive teams.

They will look to make adjustments on the offensive end, as well. The Hawks struggled to get out in transition Thursday night and had issues creating plays against a set defense. They averaged 93.3 points per 100 possessions that began in the half-court, with 77% of their plays occurring against a set defense, as per Cleaning the Glass.

“Offensively, watching us in the half-court versus (Nic) Claxton’s switching — we didn’t attack that well,” Snyder said. “But to be honest with you, we probably had our worst game of the year in transition. We were like .86 per possession, which would be at the very bottom of the league. The prior two games were very, very good. So, you factor that in, that you’re not taking advantage of the open court, then you’re being forced to be even more efficient in half-court.

“... Claxton is one of the best players in the league at switching. What happens is you get stagnant, the ball stops moving, and there’s nothing wrong with Claxton attacking the big.”

Despite 44.4% of their plays coming off live rebounds, the Hawks simply couldn’t capitalize because they struggled with getting down the floor. They didn’t attack the basket and often let the Nets’ defense dictate their shots.

They were a minus-0.8 in points added per 100 possessions in plays that came off live rebounds.

This afternoon, look for the Hawks to keep attacking the basket because that worked when they did it Thursday. They were able to collapse the paint before finding shooters in the corner.

Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic has been battling a jammed thumb, which occurred in the first half of Tuesday’s win over the Jazz. Bogdanovic was 4-of-13 from floor, including 1-of-5 from 3, on Thursday. Following Friday’s practice, Bogdanovic continued to put up shots to find some comfort. But the thumb still looked swollen when he showed it to reporters.

Still, the Hawks will need more than Bogdanovic to find ways to split the Nets’ defense.

Brooklyn has lost eight of its past 11 and trails the Hawks by three games for 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

This will be the teams’ fourth meeting this season.