Zion Williamson and The Pelicans Snap Atlanta's Three-Game Winning Streak With A 116-103 Win
Both the Pelicans and the Hawks entered tonight's game as winners of three straight, but only one team was going to be able to keep their streak alive after tonight.
That team would be the Pelicans.
New Orleans was the healthier and more talented team tonight and it showed, They had a big run in the second quarter to grab a double-digit lead and they never let Atlanta get close after the first quarter. Atlanta looked overmatched for much of the night and could not overcome the size and athleticism of New Orleans. The Pelicans showed why they should be considered a contender in the Western Conference this season. The loss drops Atlanta to 29-35 and they remain in the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Let's recap tonight's game in Atlanta.
While he was on the injury report coming into the game, Dejounte Murray was in the starting lineup with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krejci, Saddiq Bey, and Clint Capela.
The Pelicans started with CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and Jonas Valanciunas.
The first quarter was an ugly one for the Hawks.
Since Trae Young's injury, the offense has been a problem for Atlanta, but Murray has been able to bail them out.
The problem was tonight, Murray got off to a bad start. He was 0-6 from the field and 0-3 from three. New Orleans has a lot of guys they can throw at you on the defensive end and Herb Jones was doing a great job of guarding Murray.
It was not just Murray though. The Hawks were 27% (8-30) from the field and 3-13 from three. Bey and Bogdanovic scored 11 of the team's 20 first quarter points.
New Orleans was doing most of its damage in the paint, particularly Williamson, who had several highlight plays in the quarter. 18 of the Pelicans 26 first-quarter points were in the paint.
New Orleans led 26-20 after the first quarter and it felt fortunate for the Hawks it was only a six-point deficit considering how poorly the offense started.
The second quarter is where New Orleans showed it was the healthier most talented team. They led by as much as 20 and Trey Murphy III came off the bench to score 15 points. It looked like New Orleans was about to cruise to a blowout win, but the Hawks found a way to battle back.
I said in the game preview today that the only chance for the Hawks in this game is for Murray and Bogdanovic to both have good nights scoring. They are the best two offensive threats for Atlanta and the Pelicans have one of the best defenses in the NBA. They both scored eight points in the quarter and had 16 of the Hawks's 22 points in the second quarter.
Atlanta was able to string a run together toward the end of the quarter and only trailed by 11 going into the half. The Hawks had a big hill to climb vs New Orleans, but it felt fortunate that they were only down 11 heading to the locker room.
The Hawks shot 32% from the field and 29% from three in the first half.
New Orleans was shooting 53% from the field and 44% from three. Murphy led all scorers with 20 points.
The second half started with both teams struggling to score the basketball and New Orleans was leaving the door open for the Hawks to climb back in the game. With 8:06 left in the third, New Orleans led 58-48.
Atlanta's offense could not get going though. Herb Jones was bothering Murray all night and the Pelican's length and athleticism gave the Hawks fits.
Quin Snyder talked after the game about how the Pelican's size and athleticism made it difficult on the Hawks:
"We made some... we struggled early when the game opened up. I thought we did a good job of continuing to compete and play. We got down 20 at that one point. We talk a lot about breaking the paint and attacking the rim and when we did that, we were able to generate better looks with our execution, something that we will keep doing and try to get each other open looks and keep attacking the rim and breaking the paint."
Murray had high praise for Jones and the way that he guarded tonight:
"Herb Jones, first-team all-defensive guy and I love it. Love the way he plays and love the way that he competes, but they have a lot of other guys that... they are a long team and they play physical and play together and things just did not go our way. They started off pretty well and they were physical and punched first and it was tough for us to try and find a rhythm and a run, but other than that I thought we still competed and fought."
The Pelicans looked like they were going to be up 18 heading to the final quarter, but a three-point shot from Bey at the buzzer cut the deficit to 15 going to the fourth.
There was a scary moment for the Hawks at the start of the fourth quarter. With 10:41 left in the game, the Hawks were trailing New Orleans 82-68 and Bey took a hard fall. After being down for some time, he got up and attempted his free throws then walked back to the locker room. The Hawks later gave an update on his status and said he was out for the game with a left knee hyperextension.
Snyder gave a brief update on Bey after the game:
"Nothing I can give you guys now. They'll go through all the protocols as far as evaluating him and whatever is called for as far as finding out exactly what is going on. You guys saw the play and hopefully he is alright."
With an already long injury list, the Hawks can't afford to lose Bey at this point in the season.
The Pelicans kept the Hawks at bay in the fourth quarter and never let them mount a serious challenge in the game. It was the highest-scoring quarter of the game for Atlanta with 35 points, but most of those came with the game well out of reach.
The Pelicans would win 113-100 and snap the Hawks' three-game losing streak. Atlanta starts a five-game road trip on Wednesday with a game in Portland.
For the game, Atlanta shot 41% from the field and 36% from three. Murray had 23 points tonight, Bogdanovic had 25, and Capela finished with 18.
New Orleans shot 57% from the field and 50% from three. Murphy led all scorers with 28 points while Williamson had 27 points as well as six rebounds and seven assists. New Orleans outscored Atlanta 56-38 in the paint.
This was not an unexpected loss with all of the injuries and how well New Orleans is playing. The health of Bey is going to be vital going forward for Atlanta. Atlanta will try and regroup on Wednesday vs the Blazers at 10:00 p.m.
