Oklahoma City Thunder Beat Atlanta Hawks 121-114
Summary
The Atlanta Hawks have been embroiled in drama since Friday. A brief recap of the beef between Nate McMillan and Trae Young can be found here. Before tonight's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, McMillan addressed and closed the issue before tip-off.
Despite the internal turmoil, Atlanta got off to a hot start. They took a five-point lead into the half, but the advantage would not hold. Thanks to a 35-point performance by Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City came back to win 121-114.
Blowing double-digit leads is becoming commonplace in Atlanta. Unfortunately, so is Trae Young's poor outside shooting. Young finished the game with 23 points and ten assists but shot 14.3% from deep.
Atlanta's shooting woes extended beyond Young. They went cold in the second half, shooting 37.7% from the field after halftime. To further complicate matters, Atlanta turned the ball over 18 times tonight.
AJ Griffin struggled in the starting lineup. The rookie's shots were not falling, and he could not stop Gilgeous-Alexander on defense. While Atlanta battles injuries and internal conflicts, they must find some solutions before they cede more ground in the standings.
Atlanta's next game is Wednesday night in New York against the Knicks. Stay locked into AllHawks.com for news, highlights, and analysis.
Stats
Hawks Leaders
Dejounte Murray - 24 PTS, 6 REB
Trae Young - 23 PTS, 10 AST
Bogdan Bogdanovic - 17 PTS, 3 REB
Thunder Leaders
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - 35 PTS, 6 REB
Josh Giddey - 17 PTS, 5 REB
Ousmane Dieng - 15 PTS, 5 REB
