The Atlanta Hawks have now lost three games in a row and are facing their first real adversity of the season.

I would argue this performance from the Hawks is far worse than either game they played against the Houston Rockets over the past few days. Those games could be drummed down to Atlanta being the less talented team and poor shooting performances. This performance was just bad all around and there was only one real saving grace from it.

Let's get into the takeaways.

1. The Hawks have a center problem

Onyeka Okongwu is not as bad as he has looked through the first part of this season and finding a real upgrade has been challeging and is always easier said than done.

But both he and Jock Landale have been quite terrible this season and tonight exposed it in a way Hawks fans have become far too familiar with.

Okongwu battled foul trouble all night long and finished with 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists while shooting 1-for-3 from deep. The shooting is not improving and far too often, he is getting outmuscled in the paint.

Jock Landale was not any better. He was a -11 in the minutes that he played and finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

It is not solely about rebounding. Atlanta is just simply not getting enough from either player right now.

Miami won the rebounding battle 52-40 and scored 70 points in the paint. While centers won't make up for all of that, the Hawks have no physical presence inside, lack rebounding in the frontcourt, and have no rim protection. If Okongwu or Landale could start hitting shots, it would ease that weakness, but it is a big problem right now for the Hawks and one they might not be able to solve with their current roster.

2. Jalen Johnson's terrible game

It has not been the start to the season that Jalen Johnson or the Hawks wanted, but tonight was another level of bad.

Johnson was a team worst -23 when on the court and finished with 12 points on 4-for-12 shooting along with 11 assists and nine rebounds. Atlanta's offensive rating was nearly 64 points better when he was off the floor and the defensive rating nearly 13 points better when off the floor.

To put it simply, Atlanta was better when their star player was not on the court.

It is just five games, but the biggest criticisms of Johnson from last season and in the playoffs vs the Knicks have reared their ugly head this season so far. He is a much better player than this and the Hawks need a better version of him.

3. Kingston Flemings was a star

The only good takeaway I have from this game was that rookie point guard Kingston Flemings had the best game of his NBA career.

Flemings was fantastic and ended up in the closing lineup for the Hawks over CJ McCollum. Flemings finished with 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists, as well as a block and a steal. He shot 9-for-12 from the field and 3-for-5 from three.

Flemings has had a tough start to his NBA career when it comes to shooting the basketball, but tonight was a huge step in the right direction for the young guard.

4. Hawks might need to try a young player as the backup four

I am under the assumption that once Mouhamed Gueye returns from injury, he will be in the rotation as the backup four. Right now, the Hawks are rolling with Lu Dort at that spot and it is just not working out and it is part of the reason the Hawks are having rebounding problems.

There are risks along with playing Asa Newell and Zuby Ejiofor, both different for both players, but they are just simply bigger bodies. It might be time for Quin Snyder to try something new at the spot.