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The Atlanta Hawks suffered a disappointing loss Thursday night against the Chicago Bulls on the road. It was both teams’ first game back since the All-Star break. This game began as a potential blowout, but ended up being a thriller and a heartbreaking loss for the Hawks. Chicago held on to beat Atlanta 112-108, following a game-clinching-and-one play from Bulls forward, DeMar DeRozon, with 15.1 seconds remaining. DeRozan shot an unbelievable 71% from the field on his way to a 37-point outing.
Trae Young may have had his worst shooting night of the season as he was unable to find any rhythm throughout the entirety of the game. He shot just 3-of-17 from the field overall and went 0-for-5 from three-point land. The Hawks struggled as a group with shooting, going just 8-for-28 from beyond the arc.
If it was not for the efforts of Danillo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who carried Atlanta for the majority of the game, this would have been an extremely lop-sided loss. Gallinari, who was a consistent offensive force in the month of February, finished with 26 points, while Bogdanovic chipped in 27 points off the bench. Bogdanovic has been red hot since returning from injury, reminding Hawks fans of the ‘Bogi’ they saw at the end of last season, when he was a near-20 point scorer.
De’Andre Hunter, who was also having a tough shooting night, left after just playing 12 minutes with an apparent illness. Lou Williams also was limited in this game from a hamstring injury.
The Hawks started the game extremely slow, allowing the Bulls to jump out to a 10-point lead to start the first quarter. Atlanta weathered the storm and cut the lead to just five at the end the first period. After that, the Hawks bench kept Atlanta in the game with back-to-back 30-point quarters. The Hawks finally took a one point lead with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, their inability to stop DeRozan, along with stifling defense from Bulls rookie, Ayo Dosonmu on Young, helped the Bulls close this game out.
The Atlanta Hawks pulled off what might have been their best overall team win, Saturday night at home, as they routed the Toronto Raptors, 127-100. Coming off a forgettable performance against the Chicago Bulls Thursday night, Trae Young looked like Trae Young. Young finished with a monster 41 points, 11 assists, and an astonishing +37 +/- rating, leading the Hawks to a blow-out victory.
The Raptors had bested the Hawks twice about a month ago, and this win was crucial in pacing the Hawks for seeding in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Onyeka Okongwu and Bogdan Bogdanovic both had excellent games coming off the bench. For Bogdanovic, this continues a string of good outing’s for the veteran sharpshooter, who is beginning to look more and more like he did toward the end of last season. He finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Okongwu was once again a force on the defensive end, with multiple game-changing blocks. However, it was his efficient offense output that helped propel the Hawks bench to success. Okungwu finished with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting and also shot 5-of-6 from the line.
The Hawks had a rough first couple of minutes to start the game off, and had the makings for another loss for the Hawks. Atlanta missed multiple lay-ups and ended the first quarter down by five points. Atlanta finally turned it on and showed some of that defensive prowess that has been elusive all season, as they held the Raptors to just 21 points in the second quarter and just 16 points in the third frame.
Atlanta still sits two games under .500 and will head to Boston to play the Celtics on Tuesday night at 7:30. This marks another important Eastern Conference game as only a couple games separate the two clubs, and the Hawks need to start stringing wins together to have a hope at avoiding the play-in tournament.
