All good things must come to an end.
The Atlanta Hawks’ 11-game winning streak has now ended, and ended emphatically. The Houston Rockets blew out the Atlanta Hawks tonight by 22 points, but it was not that close. Both teams pulled their starters early in the 4th quarter, and the Hawks, who had been playing so well as of late, left Houston with far more questions than they came into the night with.
What did last night tell us, if anything?
Hawks have questions 
Mar 20, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (10) shoots outside against Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason (17) during the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images
The big critique of the Hawks over the course of their 11 game winning streak was their schedule. The Hawks played only two teams with winning records and did not face a lot of top defenses over the course of the past month.
They did last night and it did not go well.
The Rockets had not been playing great defense over the past week or so, but they showed up last night against a team that had been playing offense at a high level over the course of the winning streak. The Rockets length and athleticism bothered the Hawks nearly the entire game and was a huge issue for them.
Houston held the Hawks to 42% from the field and 26% from three and out-rebounded them 51-37. These were two huge strengths for the Hawks in their winning streak and the Rockets just neutralized them last night in the rout.
Two players that are essential to the Hawks success were practically invisible last night. Dyson Daniels is known for his perimeter defense, but he helps make the offense go by getting into the paint and pressuring the rim. Last night, the Rockets held him to three points on 1-5 shooting and only one assist. He could not get the offense going and his flaws were apparent.
Onyeka Okongwu was held to six points on 2-9 from the field and 1-4 from three. Okongwu is critical to the Hawks success because of his ability to stretch the floor and he could not give the Hawks what they needed on the offensive end last night.
Sometimes teams just get hot and I am not as worried about the Hawks defense despite the poor game last night. Houston shot over 50% from the field and 47% from three, with Jabari Smith, Kevin Durant, Aaron Holiday, and Reed Sheppard all hitting at least three three pointers. Atlanta finished with a 113.2 defensive rating, which is not horrible, but the offense was the biggest concern.
Cause for panic?
It is only one game and it would be foolish to panic, but coming off of an 11 game winning streak against mostly teams with a losing record, one has to wonder if there was something exposed last night.
Most teams don’t have answers, but against teams with length and athleticism (think OKC, San Antonio, Houston, and Boston), the Hawks are going to be at a disadvantage. Those are the worst possible matchups for the Hawks and Houston has a lot of qualities that give the Hawks issues.
I have questions about the Hawks halfcourt offense when the playoffs roll around and tonight showed that. If the Hawks have an off night shooting like they did tonight, do they have enough guys to go and create offense on their own? Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have been fantastic this season, but are they going to be reliable when the playoffs roll around? This game raised those questions.
The Hawks have improved a lot over the past month and one game does not take away what they did over those 11 games. However, some issues were raised last night and the Hawks are going to need to address them.