The Hawks – and coach Mike Budenholzer – wanted this win.
In the worst way.
The Hawks snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Spurs with a dramatic 114-112 overtime victory Sunday night at Philips Arena. Budenholzer spent 19 years in the Spurs organization and was winless in six attempts against his former employer.
“Any time you had that kind of streak, no matter what conference it’s from, it’s nice to beat somebody,” Budenholzer said. “I was there for a long time. A lot of things we’ve tried to bring here, the things that make sense and are smart. At the end of the day, it’s a game for our players.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and the Hawks eked out a win over the Spurs for the first time since March of 2010.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with a game-high 32 points and 13 rebounds and Hardaway tied his career-high with 29 points.
“I’m happy for him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Budenholzer, whom he hired to work in the video department. “It was a great game. They played well. If we are going to lose, it’s good to feel somebody on the other end was made happy. It was a good win for those guys. It would have been a good win of us.”
The Hawks (18-16) won their third straight game, something they haven’t done since November when they started the season 9-2 after a six-game win streak. Dennis Schroder had a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists and Kyle Korver added 14 points in the win.
The Spurs (27-7) had a four-game win streak snapped and lost for just the second time in the past 11 games. LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double of 27 points and 13 rebounds. Tony Parker added 22 points.
Hardaway’s game-tying 3-pointer came off an out-of-bounds play. The Hawks drew up one play but needed a timeout when they couldn’t put the ball in play. They turned to a play they use often that calls for screening action to free one of the guards. Hardaway benefitted from screens set by Mike Muscala and Korver and launched the 26-footer. The shot sent the game into overtime tied at 100-100.
“We draw up all these specialty plays and then we go to one we run five times a game,” Korver joked of the game-tying set. “Tim coming off a screen and has an open look, that’s a good option for us. He knocked down a huge shot.”
The Hawks got several big plays to hold off the Spurs in overtime, even after taking a pair of four-point leads. Hardaway got a rebound off a Millsap missed 3-pointer and was fouled. Millsap then got the rebound, after a Muscala tip, when Hardaway missed his second attempt.
“Paul just said thanks for having his back on that one,” Hardaway said of his offensive rebound. “Just competing and being in the right spot and the right time.”
The Hawks did survive several Spurs’ near misses.
Kawhi Leonard missed a 14-footer at the end of regulation that rolled around the cylinder several times before falling out at the buzzer. Leonard also missed a driving layup as time expired in overtime that would have tied the game.
“Overall, big picture, it’s good for us mentally,” Millsap said. “We beat a really good team. That’s the mentality we have to have going forward. If we play with that mentality, playing to win, I think we’ll be all right.”
The Hawks are now 8-4 since wining just once in 11 games left them with a 10-12 record.
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