The Warriors dug too many holes throughout this game and by the fourth quarter, had dug a crater than was clearly too large to overcome. Dorell Wright led an otherwise offensively inept squad with a career high of 32 points. To go with his 4-9 3-point shooting, Wright showed off an array of short jumpers and drives. David Lee, Stephen Curry, and Monta Ellis combined for 35 points on 13-38 shooting. This is well below their season combined average of 64 point per game.
The Warriors had no answer for the Hawks perimeter passing, which easily created many long and wide-open jumpers throughout the decisive fourth quarter. The Hawks front line of Josh Smith (22 points), Al Horford (21 points), and Zaza Pachulia (11 points) dominated the Warriors on both ends of the floor. Together, Horford and Pachulia went 14-20 from the field. Together, the three of them accounted for 32 of the Hawks 44 rebounds.
The Warriors frustration was captured by one particular Warriors possession in the fourth where Lee rebounded his own miss, well defended by Horford, which Lee then missed a wide open tip-in opportunity. Horford grabbed the rebound and Lee hung his head and trotted back on defense.
Lee struggled to keep up with Horford’s speed and the Hawks’ length in the backcourt in Maurice Evans and Joe Johnson proved too much for Ellis. Stephen Curry struggled, too, from the field missing 9 of 13 shots. But he contributed 11 assists and has now averaged 10 assists since returning from his ankle injury.
Brandan Wright played 1 minute and scored 2 points in his first action since November 13th at Milwaukee.