Spurs Crumble in Second Half vs. Hawks, Fall in Reunion With Dejounte Murray
In the middle of a win-less Rodeo Road Trip, the San Antonio Spurs had to battle with some additional emotion headed into Saturday's meeting with the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.
The matchup marked the first time the Spurs were facing off with their former All-Star Dejounte Murray, who was traded to Atlanta in the offseason.
But it was Murray who got the last laugh (for now), as he and the Hawks blew the doors open in the second half to cruise to a 125-106 win over the Spurs.
The loss extended San Antonio’s losing streak to 12, it’s worst slide of the season.
The Spurs were led by a game-high 25 points from Keldon Johnson while rookies Jeremy Sochan (18 points, nine rebounds) and Malaki Branham (10 points, six rebounds) were the only two other Spurs in double figures.
After posting 31 points in his Spurs debut Friday night, guard Devonte' Graham fell back down to Earth a bit against Atlanta, as he tallied nine points on 3 of 7 shooting from deep.
Hawks star Trae Young dominated as both a scorer and facilitator, finishing with 24 points on a season-high 17 assists. Atlanta also got an impressive scoring night from forward De'Andre Hunter (24 points) while Murray finished with 18 points of his own.
All five Atlanta starters reached the double-digit mark in the scoring column.
The Spurs jumped out to an 11-6 lead behind an all-around effort from Sochan, who was finding his scoring touch from inside and beyond the arc while also connecting on some timely assists to teammates.
Atlanta made a run of its own to take a 27-19 lead, as Hunter came out hot with 12 early points. But Graham picked up where he left off from Friday's debut against the Detroit Pistons, as he came off the bench to nail two quick triples at the end of the first to dig San Antonio out of the eight-point hole.
Sochan finished off his stellar opening quarter with an emphatic dunk in transition, as the Hawks led 32-31 at the end of the first.
Johnson got hot with a 10-point second quarter, but Young had six quick points in the final minute to give Atlanta a 61-60 lead headed into halftime.
Against his former team, Murray had just four points after a quiet first half. But the narrative quickly changed.
Despite their early impressive efforts, the Spurs were done in by their poor third-quarter performance, which saw them get outscored 32-17. The continuous productive shooting from Young along with some improved play from Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic opened the flood gates, leaving the Spurs unable to keep afloat in the tide.
The Hawks headed into the fourth quarter with a 93-77 lead, and Murray made sure to kick the Spurs while they were down. He scored seven straight points for Atlanta midway through the fourth, leaving the Spurs struggling for answers.
But expending energy to find late-game solutions toward a comeback proved meaningless, as the Hawks had earned a blowout win thanks to resurgent effort of Murray in a dominant second half.
The Spurs will visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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