The Portland Trail Blazers outlasted the Atlanta Hawks 114-110 at the Moda Center on Sunday night. De’Andre Hunter missed this game due to injury management, but Vít Krejčí returned after a nine-game absence. This game had a lot of ups and downs. Neither team played their best basketball, but the biggest statistic of the night came from the turnover story. Atlanta committed 25 turnovers compared to the Trail Blazers’ 20. Portland turned those miscues into 32 points, while the Hawks managed 21 points off the Blazers’ mistakes.
Atlanta started hot. Dyson Daniels scored eight points in one minute to put his squad up 10. The Hawks forced Portland into five early turnovers and put together a 14-2 run, highlighted by a Trae Young over-the-head lob to Zaccharie Risacher for a slam. They held a 25-9 lead quickly. The Trail Blazers went on an 8-0 run to shrink the lead, but Atlanta punched back with their own 8-0 stretch later in the quarter to take a 33-21 lead into the second. Daniels had a quick 10 points, and Portland turned the ball eight times.
The second quarter was when the Hawks started to fall into turnover trouble. Atlanta had 11 total turnovers within a few minutes compared to Portland’s 10. The Trail Blazers took advantage of the Hawks’ mistakes with easy fastbreak opportunities. If Portland was not on the break, Dalano Banton was their go-to scorer. He got hot from deep early and finished with 23 points on 4-8 three-point shooting. Toumani Camara pressured Young on the ball throughout the contest, and while Atlanta’s star put up 29 points and eight assists, Camara forced him into six turnovers. When Portland trimmed the deficit to five points, the Hawks found themselves only up 64-56 at halftime. Even though Atlanta dominated the rebounding battle (27-18) and fastbreak points (17-4), turnovers kept the Blazers in the game.
In the third frame, the wheels fell off the Hawks’ train. After countering Portland’s 7-0 stretch with a 6-0 run of their own, Atlanta hit a wall. On top of giving away possessions, the Hawks could not get a shot to fall for most of the quarter. On the other end, the Trail Blazers could not miss. Banton knocked down a double-clutch three to beat the shot, and the Hawks, with 20 turnovers at this point, went six minutes without a field goal. Portland pushed a massive 17-0 run across to flip the score 91-78. Garrison Mathews knocked down a triple to end the scoring drought, but Atlanta lost the frame 38-17. Suddenly, the Hawks stared at a 13-point deficit heading into the final 12 minutes.
Atlanta needed a hot start to the fourth quarter and put together a 15-2 turnover-less stretch to cut the Blazers’ lead to two points. The Hawks’ defense held Portland scoreless for almost six minutes before Banton knocked down a mid-range jumper. Young scored 10 points in the fourth and appeared to find his rhythm after a slow start. The Hawks clung to a slim 106-105 lead with a minute left. Young hit two free throws, but Shaedon Sharpe took over the Blazers down the stretch. He knocked down a contested three to tie the game and went to the line after Daniels turned the ball over. With Portland up by three, Young got a quick lay-in, and the Hawks immediately fouled. Atlanta had a chance to win or send the game to overtime with nine seconds left on the clock, but the Trail Blazers stole Young’s pass and came away with the victory.
Jalen Johnson finished with 25 points (10-14 FG) four assists, and two steals but had seven turnovers. After a hot start, Daniels ended with 12 points (5-17 FG), five assists, eight boards, and six turnovers. Onyeka Okongwu is finding his footing after a slow start to the season. He had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double with two steals and two blocks.
Sharpe led Portland throughout the second half, finishing with 32 points and three steals. Robert Williams III was a perfect 6-6 from the field for 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Hawks need to flush this game quickly because they face the Sacramento Kings in the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow at the Golden 1 Center.
