The Atlanta Hawks got a 109-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings on the road on Monday night. About 20 minutes before the game, Jalen Johnson was surprisingly ruled out due to lower lateral left leg inflammation. Head Coach Quin Snyder started Garrison Mathews in his place with Zaccharie Risacher moving to power forward. On the bright side, Bogdan Bogdanović (hamstring tendinopathy) played in his first game since opening night, and Kobe Bufkin (shoulder subluxation) saw his first action of the season. Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan missed this contest due to back problems.
Similar to the game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Hawks got off to a quick start. Risacher knocked down two triples and had nine of the first 11 Atlanta points. The Hawks built a 16-6 lead, forcing a timeout from Kings head coach, Mike Brown. One minute later, he called for another one because the Hawks extended their advantage to 22-6. Sacramento looked out of sorts offensively until Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray hit back-to-back threes to fuel a 13-3 run, cutting Atlanta’s lead to 25-19. The Hawks clung to a slim 32-31 advantage after De’Andre Hunter beat the buzzer on a mid-range shot. Atlanta gave up their 16-point advantage in roughly five minutes.
The Kings eventually reached flamethrower status to begin the second quarter, hitting 10 straight threes. Ellis was a perfect 6-6 from downtown, and Sacramento quickly turned the game on its head with a 51-40 lead. The Hawks had trouble defending the Kings’ guard-to-guard screens throughout this stretch. Trae Young did not hunt his shot throughout this game. His first field-goal attempt came with just over five minutes in the second frame. He finished with just seven points but dropped an NBA season-high 19 dimes. Atlanta brought the game back by forcing turnovers, leading to an 11-3 run. The Kings brought a 66-64 lead into halftime, despite shooting 14-24 from deep. The Hawks forced Sacramento into 10 first-half turnovers to stay close.
Neither team created much separation in the third, and after both teams scored over 30 points in the first two quarters, the offenses cooled off in the second half. The Hawks only scored 20 points in the fourth frame, but the Kings only managed 15.
Atlanta held Sacramento without a field goal until Doug McDermott’s layup with just under seven minutes to go. Unfortunately for the Hawks, their offense did not take advantage during this stretch. They held a slim 98-96 lead with the game winding down. Hunter swished a huge three to put his squad up 106-101 after De’Aaron Fox picked up a technical foul in the backcourt. Kevin Huerter and Fox had two open looks to tie the game at 109 but missed. After the Hawks failed to score on the other end, Fox had the ball in his hands with the game on the line. Hunter forced him into Dyson Daniels’ help defense, and Daniels swiped the ball away as Fox went into his shot, giving the Hawks the win.
Hunter led Atlanta with 24 points on 9-15 shooting. In the four games he has played this season, the Hawks are 4-0, and he has played well in all of them. Daniels collected 14 points to go along with eight boards, four assists, and four blocks. Risacher broke out of a three-point shooting slump for 18 points on 3-5 shooting from deep, and Clint Capela put up a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double.
Fox continued his strong run with 28 points and seven assists, but Ellis stole the show for Sacramento with a career-high 33 points on nine made threes.
The Hawks got their West Coast trip off to a good start. They face the 10-3 Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center on Wednesday night.
