Atlanta Loses Fourth Straight Game After Blowing 18-Point Lead vs Charlotte
This was going to be a tricky spot for the Hawks no matter the circumstances and it ended up being their fourth straight loss and spoiled Trae Young's return to the court and the final regular season home game of the year for the Hawks. Atlanta was playing really well for the first three quarters, but head coach Quin Snyder opted to rest the key players that did play tonight in the fourth quarter and Charlotte was able to overcome an 18-point defecit to get a 115-114 win in Atlanta.
After playing last night vs Miami, Atlanta opted to sit Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Wesley Matthews, and Jalen Johnson. The Hawks seemingly took a big picture approach to this game and tried to win despite key players only playing around 20 minutes and others sitting out.
This loss almost guarantees that the Hawks will be playing in Chicago for the No. 9 vs No. 10 game. Atlanta is now 1.5 games behind, with only two games left. Chicago still has three games remaining.
Let's recap a disappointing night in Atlanta.
Atlanta started Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Garrison Matthews, Vit Krejci, and Clint Capela.
Charlotte started Vasa Micic, Tre Mann, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Nick Richards.
Young was back in the starting lineup and the Hawks offense was humming right away. After a 14-8 start for Charlotte, the Hawks had a really strong first quarter, especially on offense. After the Hornets led 23-21 with 3:54 left in the first, the Hawks closed the quarter on a 14-7 run to lead 35-30 going to the second.
Without Murray, Hunter, Wesley Matthews, and Jalen Johnson, I was interested to see the rotation from Quin Snyder. He only had 10 players at his disposal tonight and he made sure to use all ten in the first half. Kobe Bufkin, Dylan Windler, Bruno Fernando, Trent Forrest and Mouhamed Gueye all saw time in the first half.
The guy I was most interested to see was Gueye. He had not played in any meaningful rotation minutes this season due to an injury, but he flashed his potential while in the G-League. Gueye had a really active first quarter, nailing a three-pointer as well as getting three rebounds. Gueye is very raw, but he flashed during the first quarter tonight.
Atlanta had an excellent first quarter on offense, shooting 58% from the floor. In his first game back, Young had six points and five assists in the first quarter.
Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges combined for 15 points in the opening quarter.
The Hawks offense had no intentions of slowing down in the second quarter and Atlanta continued to shoot well from beyond the three-point line. After having one of his worst games of the season last night vs Miami, Bogdanovic had a terrific game tonight, including seven in the second quarter.
Windler has shown an ability to be a valuable three-point shooter when on the floor and he nailed two really long three's in the second quarter.
After a back and forth quarter between both teams, Atlanta pulled away a little bit and led by six going into the half 61-55. It looked like it was going to be a nine-point lead after Krejci appeared to beat the buzzer with a three, but the basket was waved off.
It was a terrific offensive first half for the Hawks. Atlanta shot 59% from the field and 46% from three. Krejci led the Hawks with 14 points, Matthews and Bogdanovic had 10 each, and Young had nine points and eight assists in his first game back in six weeks.
Charlotte also shot well in the first half. The Hornets were 50% from the field and 40% from three. Miller led the way with 14 and Charlotte had a 23-14 advantage in bench points.
The third quarter not only saw the Hawks start pulling away from the Hornets, but franchise history was also made.
With under eight minutes to go in the third quarter, Bogdanovic shot and made his 234th three of the season, a new Atlanta Hawks single-season record. Bogdanovic was having a terrific night and this was a culmination of what has been a terrific season for Bogdanovic.
Bogdanovic, Capela, and Bufkin led the way for the Hawks, who continued to torch the Hornets defense.
Atlanta started the third quarter on a 12-3 run and got the lead up to 15. Atlanta was 4-7 from three in the quarter and shot nearly 60% from the field. Bogdanovic had nine points, Capela had eight, and Bufkin had six. The Hawks outscored Charlotte 31-22 in the third and wnet into the final quarter leading 92-77. It looked like the Hawks going to pull away and blow the Hornets out, but Charlotte had other ideas to start the fourth quarter.
The Hornets had an excellent start to the final quarter, going on a 15-5 run and with 7:42 left in the game, the Hawks lead had been trimmed to five. After Grant Williams hit two free throws, the lead was all of a sudden just three points.
Krejci was able to hit back-to-back threes to make it a nine point game again, but Charlotte quickly got it back to three with under four minutes remaining.
Quin Snyder opted to let the guys on the floor finish the game, keeping Trae Young, Bogdanovic, and Capela on the bench, which I think was the right move. Bogdanovic and Capela played heavy minutes last night, this was Young's first game back, and in the big picture look, Atlanta is likely going to face Chicago no matter what happens the rest of the way. He opted to close with Matthews, Krejci, Bufkin, Fernando, and Windler.
With 2:32 remaining, Charlotte got the lead back with two Grant Williams free throws.
Fernando split a pair of free throws on the other end and cut Charlotte's lead to 109-108. The teams would then exchange baskets. Williams then got the lead back to three with a basket, but Trent Forrest came in for Bufkin and cut it back to one. He was not done yet though. After a Charlotte miss, Forrest came back to get the lead.
Brandon Miller had a chance to hit a wide open three to take the lead back, but he missed and Forrest once again put the ball in his hands to score the basket and draw the foul. He would miss the free throw however and the Hawks led 114-11 with 34 seconds remaining.
Miller drove to the basket and was fouled, but missed the shot. He hit both free throws and Charlotte did not need to foul to get the ball back. Bufkin dished it to Forrest, who found an open Fernando under the basket, but he missed, allowing Charlotte to get out in transition and Miles Bridges hit the basket with 3.8 seconds left.
Atlanta had one chance left to try and win it. WIndler got the ball to Forrest, who had his shot blocked and the game was over. The Hornets outscored the Hawks 38-22 in the fourth quarter and overcame an 18-point defecit to send the Hawks to their fourth-straight loss.
It is tough to say this is a bad loss considering the guys who did not play and the fact that Snyder did not play Young, Bogdanovic, or Capela in the fourth quarter. Young only played 20 minutes in this game. Atlanta is almost certainly going to play in Chicago next week for the No. 9 vs No. 10 matchup in the play-in tournament.
The Hawks shot 52% from the field and 45% from three. Bogdanovic and Krejci each had 19 points, leading the way for Atlanta.
Charlotte shot 50% from the field and 39% from three. Miller had 27 points, Bridges had 18, and Williams had 16 points.
Atlanta goes on the road to face Minnesota on Friday night at 8:00 p.m.
