Paul Millsap isn’t walking through that door.
Unlike recent seasons, the Hawks don’t have a veteran go-to player to take over down the stretch with the game on the line. Veteran players like Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver and Millsap are long gone.
The search for their replacements is currently ongoing.
This young Hawks team is seeking the next player who can take over when it counts the most. There are contenders, namely Dennis Schroder and Kent Bazemore, right now. They are still learning. There are even younger players who one day may take the mantle.
In the meantime, the Hawks are piling up losses. One close call after another. One more painful than the next. It hurts. It’s frustrating. The Hawks have an NBA-worst record of 11-31 going into Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day game against the Spurs.
The Hawks call them winning plays – and there have been chances. Plenty of them.
“A couple rebounding situations where we just have to be better,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “One or two loose balls in any of those games, we feel like the game would have been a different result. Sometimes, it’s more of a mental discipline. Sometimes, it’s just a little more effort or urgency in those winning situations. It could happen with five or six minutes to go. It’s not always with just one or two minutes to go. Every team calls them winning plays. We have to make a few more of them.”
The Hawks recently completed a five-game western road trip where they went 1-4. They could have easily come home with a 3-2 record.
Consider:
* The trip started with a 104-103 loss to the Suns on Jan. 2. The Hawks led that game by 10 points, 99-89, with 2:53 left. They couldn’t hold the big lead.
* After blowout losses at the Trail Blazers and Lakers, the Hawks lost to the Clippers 108-107 on Jan. 8. The Hawks led by five points, 105-100, with 1:26 left. They lost on a C.J. Williams’ 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left.
* After ended the trip with a win at the Nuggets, the Hawks returned home and lost to the Nets, 110-105, on Friday. The Hawks led by five points, 99-94, with 2:37 left. They lost on a Spencer Dinwiddie layup with 11 seconds left.
Those were all just this month.
The Hawks have played 22 games in which they either led or trailed by five points with five minutes remaining. They are 6-16 in those games with a minus-41 rating. They have played 18 games in which they either led or trailed by five points with two minutes remaining. They are 5-13 with a minus-44 rating.
Close but no victory cigar.
“As a young team, if those are our issues you can’t be satisfied with it but you can understand,” Bazemore said. “It’s hard to win in this league and the fact that we are giving ourselves a chance for 48 minutes. There are teams with a not-so-good record that look different than us. They don’t have the pieces or the talent. We have all of that. It’s a matter of figuring it out, individually and collectively.”
Bazemore and Schroder said they are still learning to be the veteran presence and talent down the stretch. The same player they watched for years while playing alongside the likes of Millsap and Horford. Schroder blamed himself for the latest loss, lamenting a missed layup.
“I want to get to that point,” Schroder said. “I’m learning. I don’t do everything perfect. I’ve lost some games. The last game I feel I lost it because I missed that layup. It’s a struggle but I have to take it and move forward.”
The Hawks have a chance to get those winning plays in front of a home crowd as seven of their 11 wins have come at Philips Arena. Including the game against the Nets, the Hawks play six straight, and nine of their next 10, games at home. Only a short trip to Charlotte as the only road game.
Having a player who can slow the game and have the offense run through him, like Millsap did for four years, was a luxury. The Hawks still need a consistent replacement.
“We are a couple of rebounds, a missed layup, away,” Malcolm Delaney said. “It’s small stuff. Our mentality is still we are trying to win. We know we can beat any team we play against. We just have to figure out how to close a game in the fourth quarter. That’s our biggest thing.”
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