Charlotte Hornets Beat Atlanta Hawks 122-118
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Summary
The Atlanta Hawks entered Saturday night's matchup against the Charlotte Hornets as heavy favorites. However, the second night of a back-to-back can be tricky. Plus, the last home game before a road trip is often a trap game. Unfortunately, that does not excuse what happened.
Charlotte snapped Atlanta's winning streak with a 122-118 upset victory in State Farm Arena. Atlanta picked up where they left off last night, racing out to a 65-49 halftime lead.
Following the break, Charlotte played with a new level of intensity. They gradually cut into Atlanta's lead before tying the game halfway through the fourth quarter. Atlanta's cakewalk turned into a dogfight.
A putback by Clint Capela gave Atlanta a one-point lead with five seconds left in regulation. However, a questionable shooting foul on Jalen Johnson sent Terry Rozier to the line with one second left, where he hit all three free throws to ice the game.
Tonight's loss was the second time that a short-handed Charlotte beat Atlanta on the road this season. Losing to Charlotte, the third-worst team in the NBA, without LaMelo Ball and Kelly Oubre Jr., is an embarrassing loss for any team that considers itself a contender.
Minus turning the ball over 16 times, Atlanta played well on offense. Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and De'Andre Hunter scored 25+ points, and the team shot 54.2% from the field and 44% from deep. But they cannot surrender 73 points in the second half and expect to win.
Atlanta falls to 24-23, and Charlotte improves to 13-34 on the season. Tomorrow Atlanta heads to Chicago, where they will play the Bulls on Monday night. Stay locked into AllHawks.com for news, highlights, and analysis.
Stats
Hawks Leaders
Dejounte Murray - 26 PTS, 3 REB
Trae Young - 25 PTS, 12 REB
De'Andre Hunter - 25 PTS, 4 REB
Hornets Leaders
Terry Rozier - 34 PTS, 5 REB
Mason Plumlee - 25 PTS, 11 REB
PJ Washington - 23 PTS, 6 REB
