Hawks Shock Nuggets 117-109
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Summary
After a seven-month rehabilitation from knee surgery, Bogdan Bogdanovic made his return to the court tonight. Bogdanovic could not have arrived at a better moment. Despite playing with a skeleton crew, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Denver Nuggets 117-109.
Atlanta was without several players tonight, most notably Trae Young, De'Andre Hunter, and John Collins. A lot of focus tonight was directed on the Hawks bench - and who was not on it. Young was ruled out with shoulder soreness but was not in the arena tonight.
With Young away from the team, Atlanta's short-handed roster had to step up. Dejounte Murray led the way with an efficient 34 points. Rookie AJ Griffin scored 24 points on 68.8% shooting.
However, the game ball must go to Hawks center Clint Capela. Sure, Capela had another double-double. That has become routine for the big man. But without much help, Capela was able to contain Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
With the exception of the third quarter, Denver struggled to get anything going on offense tonight. Atlanta led for all but 21 seconds of the game, thanks to their spirited effort.
We will keep you updated as we learn more about Young's shoulder and the reason for his absence from tonight's game. Stay locked into AllHawks.com for news, highlights, and interviews.
Stats
Hawks Leaders
Dejounte Murray - 34 PTS, 8 AST
AJ Griffin - 24 PTS, 3 REB
Clint Capela - 12 PTS, 11 REB
Nuggets Leaders
Nikola Jokic - 24 PTS, 10 REB
Jamal Murray - 20 PTS, 7 AST
Aaron Gordon - 14 PTS, 5 REB
