The slump continued for the Atlanta Hawks Monday night as they fell at home to the defending-champion, Denver Nuggets, 129-122. This marks the fourth loss in a row for the Hawks, and surprisingly, ended a three-game skid for the Nuggets.
Atlanta led for most of the first-half, but ultimately trailed 65-62, behind a strong showing from Julian Strawther. Not Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray, but Strawther led the way for all scorers with 19 first-half points for Denver. From then on, Denver’s size was too much for the Hawks to handle. They finished the night leading essentially every ‘big-man’ category there is:
Points in the paint: 64 (DEN) 46 (ATL)
Rebounds: 49 (DEN) 35 (ATL)
Blocks: 8 (DEN) 2 (ATL)
Denver came out of the half on a 26-9 run to take command of the game, but the Hawks did not go away, mostly due to the 40-point performance put on by Hawks’ sharpshooter, Bogdan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic hit a career-high 10 three’s, going 10-17 from beyond the arc and 14-24 overall from the field.
An interesting moment in the game, was when the Hawks were in the midst of a 10-3 run to cut the lead down to 99-86, which is when all chaos ensued. Trae Young missed a drive to the basket, thinking he was followed by the Denver defender and picked up a technical foul in the process arguing with the referee. Coach Quin Snyder then picked up a technical shortly after, only to be followed by another Young-technical, ultimately, leading to his ejection. The rare ‘triple-tech’ reared its ugly head against the Hawks and Young finished the night with 19 points and 9 assists in 26 minutes of action.
Atlanta tried to climb back in this one late, cutting the lead to as little as four, but Denver was in control the whole way. ‘The Joker’ finished with 25 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds. J. Murray chipped in 29 points, 4 assists and 9 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon posted a 18-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Excluding Bogdanovic’s 40-point effort, the Hawks struggled all night to keep up with the shooting of the Nuggets. Dejounte Murray finished with 21 points, but on 8-22 shooting. Clint Capela and Saddig Bey combined for 30 points on a respectable 12-22 from the field.
De’Andre Hunter was ruled out of this game for a minor injury, and was replaced by Garrison Mathews, who did not impact the ballgame one way or the other.
The Hawks will look to pick up the pieces against the Toronto Raptors, Wednesday night, as they head back on the road. The Hawks will be on the road the next six out of eight games. Wednesday night’s tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. eastern from Scotiabank Arena.
