Hawks’ comeback efforts fall short in loss to Kings

1. The Hawks couldn’t stop De’Aaron Fox, who led all scorers with 37 points (13-for-20 in field goals, 3-for-4 from 3-point range, 8-for-9 in free throws), adding three assists, two steals and two rebounds. Fox paved the way for the Kings’ offense and got them going early, with 24 points in the first half alone.

“Defensively, we just really never established our defense where we were getting stops,” interim coach Nate McMillan said. “Fox pretty much had his way, I thought, pretty much most of the night.”

2. Despite just two made threes in first half (2-for-11) and Fox’s production, the Hawks entered the third quarter tied 57-57 with the Kings (19-25). They didn’t shoot much better in the third quarter, though, putting up just 17 points and falling behind 85-74 after going 7-for-20 from the floor (35%).

The Hawks struggled to get much going on offense until the fourth quarter, when they cut an 11-point deficit to four (with Fox off the court) on a fadeaway by Danilo Gallinari. They briefly took the lead and battled down the stretch, with back-to-back 3′s by Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trae Young tying it up, 108-108.

Trailing by two with 6.2 seconds to play, the Hawks got the ball back and couldn’t capitalize. Young took a while to heat up (tallying eight points in the first half), but had a big fourth quarter and ended up leading the Hawks with 29 points.

3. This was a rough 3-point shooting night for the Hawks’ offense, which took too long to wake up. They went 7-for-25 from distance, or 28%.

McMillan wanted the Hawks to attack the basket more instead of settling for quicker shots from the perimeter: “I thought we really settled on the perimeter in that second half. We didn’t continue to keep the pressure on their defense. We took some quick, long 3′s. ... We were able to get back into the game and tie the ballgame, but we needed to get a big stop.”

Credit: Hector Amezcua

Credit: Hector Amezcua

4. Against his old team, Bogdan Bogdanovic had a good game, with his 3-pointer giving the Hawks the lead, 94-93, with 6:31 to play in the fourth quarter.

Bogdanovic finished with 20 points off the bench, adding four rebounds and two assists.

“It was emotional, especially coming here. ... It felt like, it’s a road game but it felt like home, honestly, I’m not going to lie,” Bogdanovic said. “I’m happy to see all these guys and I’m happy for them to be well, (but) we didn’t get the win.”

5. Clint Capela achieved his 28th double-double in his 38th game this season, with 25 points and 17 assists. Capela actually had a double-double by halftime (13 points, 11 rebounds).

He continues to lead the league in rebounding (14.2 per game, entering Wednesday’s game).

Stat of the game

7-for-25 (or 28%, what the Hawks shot from 3-point range, as they struggled to get shots to fall)

Star of the game

De’Aaron Fox (led the Kings in scoring with 37 points)

Quotable

“He’s tough. He’s been tough, and he’s working hard on his game. I always told him, he doesn’t even understand how good he is.” (Bogdan Bogdanovic on Fox, his former teammate)