The Atlanta Hawks fell to the Los Angeles Clippers at home Saturday night, by a final tally of 120-113.
The Clippers absolutely destroyed the Hawks from three-point range, hitting 19 three’s compared to just 7 by Atlanta. Kawhi Leonard led the attack for L.A., hitting a game-high 5 three’s, as he finished his night with 32 points on 12-20 shooting overall. Leonard’s cohort, Paul George, poured in a stat-line of 23 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists to help propel the Clippers to victory.
Reggie Jackson made a mark in their game, as well. He scored 16 points on the night, with 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter alone.
For the Hawks, it was actually a balanced effort, that on most nights would have gotten a win, but the scorching hot three-point shooting from the Clippers made that almost impossible. All five Hawks starters finished with double-digit point totals.
Trae Young led the way with 31 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. Young shot the ball fairly, going 10-21 from the field, but only took two three-point attempts, which both missed. Dejounte Murray struggled shooting the ball going 1-5 from three and 7-17 from the field for 15 points. Murray did a nice job filling the stat sheet, adding 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals on the evening.
Oddly enough, Atlanta dominated L.A. in a couple categories that would usually translate to a win, but as stated before the power of the three-point ball was the difference. The Hawks dominated the Clippers in the paint scoring 62 points compared to just 32 by the Clippers. They out rebounded L.A., 47-37, and had 15 offensive boards compared to 6 for the Clippers. Atlanta even had 24 fast break points compared to L.A.’s 7.
It is hard not to be discouraged by any loss, but Atlanta had the metrics to win this one. Sometimes in the NBA, you tip your cap to a team that just shot the lights out of the ball.
“They were hitting three’s, we were hitting two’s,” said Young, in the team’s post-game press conference.
Atlanta falls back to .500, now 25-25 on the season. The Hawks now start a pivotal West Coast road-trip, which sees their next five games away from State Farm Arena. Their next opponent will be the Portland Trailblazers on Monday night. Tip-off for that one will be a 10:00 p.m. Eastern from Portland’s Moda Center.
