Quin Snyder, the head coach of the Hawks, explains why he was upset after being removed from the game against the Raptors.

Snyder was removed from the Toronto game tonight.

The Atlanta Hawks hosted the Toronto Raptors in their first game following the All-Star Break with the intention of kicking off the second half of the season strong.

All the Hawks offered was more of the same.

Atlanta fell 123-121 to the Raptors, their third straight defeat, for a variety of reasons. The fact that they were without their head coach for two and a half quarters may have been one of those causes.

Poeltl was not called for a clear moving screen at 4:27 in the second quarter, and Young went down in agony. Snyder got dismissed after complaining with the referee over not getting called for anything.

Snyder explained to the reporters after the game why he disagreed with the call in the manner that he did and what infuriated him:

“It was an infraction. His body turned, which is an automatic foul. I usually don’t respond that way to a foul, but in this instance, I watched Trae (Young) take a shot in the quad and, to be honest, I was worried about his knee. After that, he was on the ground, so I was afraid that he was harmed. I don’t know why the second one happened at that particular time, but usually when you get one like that, there is some understanding that your player is on the ground and may be wounded. In this case, I probably deserved the technical.

As a result, as I have stated, my response was undoubtedly emotional. It is evidently contact in the movie. The man takes a shot in his quad, which is unlawful to begin with, and his feet are wide. At first, I thought the shot was going to hit his knee, which is why I responded, but that was not the point of the game.”

The Hawks had a chance to win this particular game. The Hawks would have won if Bogdanovic had shot better, Young had played better, Capela had made fewer early-game mistakes, and the Hawks had shot better in the second half. However, it was the Hawks’ third consecutive defeat, and they are still in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

The Hawks’ next chance to victory will come on Sunday when they play the Orlando Magic at home.