Atlanta Hawks Blowout Los Angeles Clippers in Stunning Upset 110-93
In what was one of the most shocking results of the NBA season, Atlanta walked into Los Angeles and completely dominated the Clippers.
The Hawks, who were missing Trae Young, Onyeka Okongwu, Kobe Bufkin, and Saddiq Bey, were 9.5-point underdogs coming into tonight's game vs a Clippers team that was missing Norm Powell and Russell Westbrook, but getting James Harden back in the lineup.
The other shocking thing about this game was how effective the Hawks' defense was. Atlanta gave up 149 points to the Clippers and played one of the worst defensive games you will ever see. Tonight was a completely different story.
The other thing to note was how well the Hawks shot from three. Atlanta has now shot from three for two straight games and that is encouraging to see going into the final months of the season.
It was an unexpected victory that ended the Hawks three-game losing. They will have to get up for a back-to-back tomorrow night, but the good news is that they don't have to go far and will play the Lakers tomorrow night at 10:30.
Let's recap one of the most surprising wins in the entire NBA season.
The Hawks started Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krejci, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela. Bogdanovic missed the game vs Utah with an illness.
The Clippers started James Harden, Terrance Mann, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Ivica Zubac.
Atlanta was a big underdog tonight but they started off the game as good as they could have hoped.
The Hawks were dominating the boards early thanks to the work of Johnson and Capela. Capela scored the first six points of the game for Atlanta and finished the 1st quarter with six rebounds already nearing his fifth straight double-double.
Leonard had a great game vs the Hawks in the first game (which the Clippers won 149-144) and he was off to a terrific start in this game. Leonard scored 17 points in the opening quarter and was the best player on the floor by a wide margin.
Atlanta was led by Capela, De'Andre Hunter, and Johnson in the first quarter. Hunter scored eight off the bench while Johnson had five points and six rebounds. Hunter has been one of the best bench players of the past month in the NBA and he was off to a great start tonight. Hunter, Garrison Matthews, Bruno Fernando, and Trent Forrest were the bench rotation tonight.
It was as great a start as you could have hoped for if you were the Hawks. With all of their guys missing, they led the Clippers 31-29 after the first quarter.
The second quarter was even better than the first for Atlanta.
The Hawks's defense had the Clippers completely out of sorts and the Hawks's three-point shooting continued to thrive. Wesley Matthews, who had not been playing well in limited action this season, had shot the three well against the Jazz on Friday and that translated into minutes against the Clippers. He hit two threes in the second quarter.
Atlanta opened the second quarter on a 13-5 run and led by 10 at the first timeout with 7:38 left in the half. After not having a noteworthy first quarter, Bogdanovic had one of his best quarters in quite some time. He scored 11 points and was 3-6 from three.
Nothing was working for Los Angeles on the offensive end. After scoring 17 in the first quarter, Leonard had only two in the second. The Clippers shot 26% from the field and were 1-10 from three in the quarter.
After coming into the night as 9.5-point underdogs, Atlanta led 61-44 at the half. It was one of the best first halves of the entire year for Atlanta.
Bogdanovic led the Hawks with 11 points in the first half, Capela had his fifth straight double-double, Hunter had 10 points, and Johnson had eight points and eight rebounds. It was surprising to see the Hawks with a big lead and Dejounte Murray not being much of a factor.
Atlanta shot 49% from the field and 50% from three in the first half.
Los Angeles shot 37% from the field and 30% from three. Leonard led the team with 19 points. Paul George (11) was the only other Clipper in double-figures.
The third quarter saw the Hawks extend their lead even further.
Atlanta held the Clippers under 20 points for the second straight quarter, outscoring the Clippers 27-18 in the third and leading by 26 going into the final quarter. Murray led the way for the Hawks with nine points and Atlanta had another excellent three-point shooting quarter, going 5-9 in the third.
The fourth quarter was largely non-competitive. The Clippers got within 14, but Atlanta extended it back to 17 and the benches cleared. The Hawks got the win and snapped their three-game losing streak. Atlanta dominated the second and third quarters of the game and pulled off a stunning result. It was not only stunning because the Hawks won, but how they did.
Murray led the way with 21 points and 10 assists, Hunter had 20 points off the bench, Capela had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Johnson had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. The Hawks shot 49% from the field and 50% (17-34) from three.
The Hawks held the Clippers to 38% shooting from the field and 31% from three.
Leonard and George combined for 54 of the Clipper's 93 points. Harden finished with nine points.
The Hawks record is now 30-37.
The Hawks will play at the exact same arena tomorrow night vs the Lakers at 10:30.
