It took two overtimes longer than it probably should have, but the Hawks beat the Spurs, 134-129, Thursday in San Antonio.
Next up, on the second half of a back-to-back, the Hawks (24-24) will play in New Orleans Friday to wrap up their eight-game road trip.
Below are some takeaways from the win:
1. The Hawks maintained a tight lead for most of the fourth quarter, fighting off DeMar DeRozan (game-high 36 points), but a dreadful sequence in the final minute opened the door for the Spurs to force overtime. Up four with 18 seconds left, Kevin Huerter turned the ball over and Dejounte Murray scored, was fouled by Bogdan Bogdanovic and made a free throw to make it a one-point game, 109-108, with 15 seconds left. Trae Young later made one of two free throws and the Hawks couldn’t stop DeRozan, who hit a pullup jumper, and Young missed an open floater to close out regulation.
2. Young tweaked his left knee in the first half, mentioning it had buckled twice on floaters and he just tried to keep it warm throughout the night. He didn’t look 100% healthy and had seven turnovers, but stayed in the game and thrived in overtime, working his way up to a double-double of 28 points and 12 assists, including seven straight points (and his first 3-pointer of the night) in the first overtime period to keep the Hawks in it. In the second overtime, he made another 3-pointer and added a clutch layup at the 1:18 mark to put the Hawks up six. Young scored 15 points after regulation had wrapped. “It’s not all going to come at once,” Young said of his slow start. “I know everybody wants me to score a lot early on and all that, but for me my main focus is winning, and if guys are hitting shots and guys are making plays and my floater and stuff isn’t going, continue to find those guys.”
3. In his second stint with the Hawks, Lou Williams made his debut and demonstrated his ability as a shot creator, something the second unit certainly needs, even if he didn’t have a stellar shooting night. Williams finished with seven points and five assists in about 22 minutes. The Hawks traded for Williams (plus two second-round picks and cash considerations) at the trade deadline, sending Rajon Rondo to the Clippers.
4. After returning from injury, Bogdanovic had been coming off the bench, but he’s making a strong case for staying in the starting lineup with his play recently. After a great game in Phoenix, Bogdanovic finished with a season-high 28 points in Thursday’s win, going an efficient 12-for-17 from the floor and 4-for-5 from 3-point range, adding five rebounds and five assists.
5. The Hawks were missing John Collins, out for at least a week after spraining his left ankle in Tuesday’s loss to Phoenix, plus Kris Dunn (right ankle surgery), De’Andre Hunter (right knee soreness) and Cam Reddish (right Achilles soreness). Solomon Hill started in Collins’ stead and had three points and six rebounds, and Danilo Gallinari came off the bench, adding 16 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. At center, rookie Onyeka Okongwu had likely his best game so far with 10 points, five rebounds and a block in about 12 minutes.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Stat of the game
10-10 (what Clint Capela, who entered Thursday shooting 55% on free throws, shot from the line in Thursday’s win, to go with 28 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks)
Star of the game
Trae Young (scored 15 points in overtime to lead the Hawks to victory, despite tweaking his knee earlier in the game)
Quotable
“Very personally. I feel like I should have hit that floater and ended the game there. So I definitely felt like I let my team down there.” (Young on how personally he took his missed shot to close out regulation, before he responded with 15 points on overtime to lead the Hawks to the win)
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