Atlanta Hawks: 5 Takeaways From Friday’s Elimination Game 6

Ball Security A Major Issue

The Atlanta Hawks dug themselves into a 19-point halftime deficit largely because of their sloppy play. Washington forced 15 first half turnovers with 11 steals, leading to 20 points — a trend that continued for the rest of the night.

Nearly a quarter of the points scored by the Wizards on the night came off fast breaks, as they totaled 28 points in transition.

Atlanta had 93 turnovers in the series, an average of 15.5 per game, nearly identical to its regular seaosn average of 15.2 per game. The Hawks have turned the ball over more frequently than any other team in the 2017 playoffs.

The 16 steals Washington totaled Friday night were the most any team has registered during the playoffs, leading to a total of 22 turnovers from the Hawks.

Three different Atlanta players turned the ball over five or more times in Game 6, while five players totaled 10 or more turnovers during the six-game slate.

Turnovers were a major factor throughout the series. In the two victories for the Hawks, they averaged 11.5 turnovers per game, but in the four losses, 17.5 turnovers. Those turnovers enabled John Wall to score 8.0 points per game in transition, the most of any player in the postseason so far.