The Phoenix Suns beat the Atlanta Hawks, 123-115, on Thursday night at the Footprint Center. This was the final stop on a grueling six-game road trip. Jalen Johnson missed the final three contests with his shoulder injury, and Vít Krejčí drew most of the starts in his place.
This game depicted a tale of two halves for the Hawks. They scored a whopping 72 points in the first half, including 41 points in the second quarter with zero turnovers. This was largely due to some hot three-point shooting. Atlanta shot 12-18 from beyond the arc in the first behind a big bench boost. The Hawks’ bench started 7-10 from deep, including 3-3 from David Roddy and 2-3 for Bogdan Bogdanović. Despite the prolific scoring, the Hawks only took a 72-68 lead at halftime because they could not stop Phoenix on the other end.
In the first quarter, the Suns shot over 75% (15-20) from the field for 38 points- 14 of which came from Kevin Durant. They went on a 14-2 run when they hit all nine of their two-point attempts to start the game for a 23-11 lead. Phoenix did almost all of its scoring in the halfcourt. The home team had just three fastbreak points at the time. Even when Atlanta put up a monster 41-point frame, the Suns still scored 30 to keep pace.
The Hawks’ hot shooting fell off dramatically in the second half. They only converted three of their 14 threes and managed just 43 points in the final 24 minutes. Atlanta relied on its defense throughout its four and six-game win streaks earlier this season, but opponents scored at least 120 points in four of the six games on the road trip. While the Hawks held the Suns to 25 points in the final frame the visitors only scored 23.
Trae Young struggled with his shot for 21 points (6-15 FG) and seven assists. Clint Capela put up a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double with two blocks. Both rejections came on the same possession. Bogdanović found his rhythm for 17 points on 3-6 shooting from deep but only scored four in the second half.
The Suns had four 20-point scorers. Durant finished with 23 points, seven dimes, and three blocks, while Devin Booker had 20 points and 12 assists. Tyus Jones knocked down four threes for 16 points. Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen scored 25 and 23 points, respectively.
The Hawks return home to face the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
