Eight Point Third Quarter Seals Hawks Fate vs Clippers As Los Angeles Snaps The Hawks Four-Game Win Streak

It is rare that you see an NBA team in this day and age score only single digit points in an entire quarter, but that is what happened tonight for the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta played their worst quarter of the season tonight vs the Los Angeles Clippers and that one quarter is all you might need to know about this game.

The Hawks were leading the Clippers by eight at halftime and then proceeded to be outscored 35-8 in the third quarter and that was all she wrote. Atlanta would play well in the fourth quarter, but it did not matter. For the second time this season, the Clippers got a blowout win over the Hawks and this win for Los Angeles ended the Hawks four-game winning streak.

Atlanta did not get the effort it needed on offense tonight, especially for their leader Trae Young. young scored 17 points tonight and had seven assists, but he was mostly absent through the first three quarters. Atlanta got a double-double from Onyeka Okongwu (18 and 10) and 15 points from Zaccharie Risacher, but they only shot 43% from the field and 27% from three. The Clippers outscored the Hawks 68-37 in the second half and Atlanta shot 2-16 from three and had 10 turnovers in the half.

With this loss, Atlanta drops to 32-35. They have a chance to pick up two victories against some of the leagues worst teams, starting on Sunday with a road game in Brooklyn, who the Hawks have not played since the opening game of the year.

The Hawks starting lineup remained the same. Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Mouhamed Gueye, and Onyeka Okongwu were the first five on the floor. James Harden, Kris Dunn, Kawhi Leonard, Nic Batum, and Ivica Zubac were the Clippers starters.

After getting blown out by the Clippers in the first game, largely due to their offense turning it the ball over 20 times, it was imperative that the Hawks get off to a good start tonight. While the offense was not fantastic in the opening quarter, they forced six Clippers turnovers and held them to 3-8 from three. While Harden was able to score nine points, the rest of the Clippers struggled.

Atlanta took advantage of the Clippers mistakes in the first quarter, scoring nine points on the six turnovers. Young led the way for Atalnta with six points and if not for five turnovers of their own, Atlanta may have led by more than two going into the second quarter.

What a start for Mo!! pic.twitter.com/VFwfDhekr8
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 14, 2025

The Hawks solved their turnover problem and had a much better second quarter on offense, led by the rookie Zaccharie Risacher, who seems to get better with each game. Risacher not only scored 11 points in the quarter, but was a perfect 4-4 from the field. Against an elite Clippers defense, the Hawks shot nearly 60% in the second quarter. Okongwu, Caris LeVert, and Vit Krejci all had six points each as well.

After struggling for much of the quarter, the Clippers got things going on offense. Leonard shot 4-6 from the field for eight points, Batum hit a pair of threes, including a buzzer beater to end the half, and former Hawk Bogdan Bogdanovic had five points. Atlanta led by as many as 11 in the quarter, but Batum's three at the buzzer cut it to eight going into the break.

At the half, Atlanta was shooting 51% from the field and 41% from three. Risacher led the way with 13 while LeVert had 10 off the bench. The Clippers shot 49% from the field and 47% from three.

The third quarter began with a horrible start for Atlanta. The Clippers opened the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 64-61 lead and the Hawks had not scored a point in nearly four minutes.

It did not end there though. The Hawks went on to have arguably their worst quarter of the season in the third quarter tonight. Atlanta scored eight (yes, only eight) points in the third quarter and shot 4-23 from the field (0-8 from three) and had eight turnovers. They were leading by eight at halftime, but trailed by 19 points going into the fourth and were outscored 35-8.

While the Hawks offense was much better in the 4th quarter, it did not matter one bit. The third quarter sealed the Hawks fate and the Clippers cruised to victory in the fourth.

Additional Links

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Hawks Fans Give Bogdan Bogdanovic A Warm Welcome in His First Game Back in Atlanta Since Being Traded

Hawks vs Clippers: Game Preview, Injury Report, Betting Odds, Projected Starting Lineups For Tonight's Game