Atlanta Hawks Defat Portland Trail Blazers 120-106 To Win Third Straight Game
After a miraculous win over Boston on Monday, the Hawks came into tonight's game vs the Portland Trail Blazers as big favorites against a team that was somehow more shorthanded than Atlanta.
Portalnd was missing Malcolm Brogdon, Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, and Matisse Thybulle for this game. Atlanta was still missing Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, Saddiq Bey, and Kobe Bufkin. The good news for the Atlanta Hawks though is that they had Dejounte Murray and he has a history of playing well vs the Blazers and he did just that tonight, leading Atlanta to its third straight win.
Murray scored 30 points tonight and Atlanta got big contributions from its bench with big nights for Garrison Matthews and Dylan Windler. It was not the best game from Atlanta, especially on defense, but they got the job done. Atlanta will now have a quick turnaround and have to face the Boston Celtics against tomorrow night.
Let's recap a victorious night in Atlanta.
The starters for the Hawks tonight were Dejounte Murray (who was questionable coming into the game), Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krejci, De'Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela.
The Blazers had a lengthy injury report coming into tonight's game and had to roll with a lineup of Scoot Henderson, Rayan Rupert, Kris Murray, Toumani Camara, and Duop Reath.
For anyone thinking this was going to be a blowout right away, the Blazers had other ideas.
After Atlanta opened up the game on a 6-0 run, Portland responded with a 7-0 run of their own and were hanging tight with Atlanta in the early going. It was a fairly even quarter for both teams, but the Blazer's three-point shooting was the early difference, as was the play of Camara. After the first quarter of play, Portland led 29-26 and Camara led all scorers with 12 points. Portland was 5-9 from three, while Atlanta was 3-10. Having only 10 players, the Hawks' early rotation was Garrison Matthews, Bruno Fernando, Dylan Windler, and Trent Forrest.
The second quarter saw two bench players unexpectedly step up and lead the way for both teams.
Windler, who signed just a couple of weeks ago on a two-way contract, has only played sparingly since being signed and has not done much in his limited minutes. In the second quarter of tonight's game though, he nearly set his new career high in points. Windler scored 11 points and was 3-3 on three-point shots. He was getting out and finding his spot in transition and knocking down open shots. It seems crazy to say, but the Hawks would not have been leading if not for Windler in the first half.
Atlanta started the second quarter on a 9-2 run and seized a 35-31 lead, but Portland kept battling. After Camara had a great opening quarter for them, it was Dalano Banton who came off the bench to score 12 points in the quarter.
The two teams would continue to go back and forth through the quarter and the game was tied 51-51 with 4:04 left in the half. The Hawks would then go on a 14-7 run to end the half and lead 65-58.
In the first half, the Hawks shot 51% from the field and 48% from three. Murray led the way with 15 points and Windler had 11. Atlanta committed 10 turnovers compared to Portland's 11, but the Hawks scored 17 points on their forced turnovers while the Blazers only scored 7. The Hawks were also 7-11 from three in the second quarter.
Portland shot 51% from the field and 53% from three in the first half. Banton led the way with 15 points and Camara had 14. Henderson had six points on 2-7 shooting.
The second half was all about the Hawks.
Dejounte Murray, Jabari Walker
Kevin C. Cox/GettyImages
Atlanta raced out to a fast start in the third quarter vs Portland and led by as many as 16 points. Murray and Bogdanovic both shot 4-5 from the field and had nine points, while Matthews had eight off the bench. Portland was having a hard time stopping the Atlanta offense and they shot 67% from the field in the quarter and 50% from three. They lead by 14 after the quarter and were well on their way to winning their third straight game.
The only bit of trouble that the Hawks ran into came in the fourth quarter. Matthews and Bruno Fernando both had five fouls, then Matthews fouled out. Shortly after, Banton scored his 30th and 31st points and cut the lead to 10. It was the closest that Portland would get in the second half and Atlanta would win the game 120-106.
It was not the most complete performance for the Hawks, but they got the job done because of their offense and the fact they took advantage of the turnover prone Blazers. They might not have been as shorthanded as the Blazers, but Atlanta was still depleted with key guys out and having to face the Celtics again tomorrow night.
Dejounte Murray had another strong performance vs the Blazers tonight, scoring 30 points on 13-20 shooting and 4-8 from three. Bogdanovic scored 16 points, but did have to take 16 shots to get those points and it was not his most efficient night. After having a career night on Saturday vs the Hornets, Garrison Matthews scored 21 points tonight and was playing very well before fouling out. He has stepped up lately and is shooting the ball well and giving the Hawks an offenisve threat. Atlanta shot 52% from the field and 39% from three.
Portland was up against it tonight and give them credit, they did not back down and brought a ton of fight to this game. They did not let Atlanta completely run them out of the building and fought hard. Banton finished the night with 31 points, Camara with 17, and Henderson had 15. Portland had a solid night on offense, shooting 51% from the field and 45% from three.
Up next for the Hawks will be another date with the league leading Boston Celtics. It will be a tough night for the Hawks given that it is on a back-to-back, but they showed on Monday that they have what it takes to beat the Celtics.
