The Hawks took the Raptors down to the wire but pulled up just shy of falling on the right side of the win-loss column. But the Hawks’ last looks at the basket came up short and they fell to the Raptors 122-119 on Thursday night at State Farm Arena.
Here are five observations:
1. The Hawks have not closed out games over the last three games. But they gave themselves a strong chance to take Thursday’s after erasing a 13-point deficit and taking a six-point lead with 4:19 to play.
But the Raptors quickly regained traction, pulling ahead 120-119. But the Hawks had a chance to ice the game after Scottie Barnes missed a hook shot.
The Hawks opted to use their legs and got out in transition but the Raptors got back and Hawks guard Trae Young tried to seal the game with a pull-up 3 over RJ Barrett.
That shot hit iron and their second-chance effort from De’Andre Hunter got blocked.
“We had a good look coming down the floor. Hunt got a rebound and he was right there,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “You’re not going to get a better look than I think we got then. So, there’s always a balance between, if you think your team has an advantage, whether you want to use the timeout or you want to let them play. And we typically let guys play and have been rewarded for it, and let them make a play.”
Then they burned their final two timeouts with 2.7 seconds left after struggling to find the right look.
2. But the Hawks didn’t look to Bogdan Bogdanovic, who was wide open on the wing and broke out of his shooting slump.
Bogdanovic went 8-of-12 from the field and knocked three of his five 3-point attempts. He finished with 23 points snapping a slump where he made 4-of-27 shots from deep over a five-game span.
But with the loss, breaking out of the slump did not taste as sweet as it would have in a victory.
“Whatever you score doesn’t matter,” Bogdanovic said. “It’s been like that my whole career, so it’s never gonna change it again.”
3. The Hawks will need more nights like Thursday from Bogdanovic and everyone in the rotation with the extent of Jalen Johnson’s injury still unknown.
“We need Bogi to play that way,” Young said. " We need him to make shots. He’s a big reason we got back into the game (tonight).″
The 23-year-old Johnson left Thursday’s game abruptly in the second quarter after injuring his left shoulder. Johnson has been dealing with a right shoulder injury.
The Hawks moved Hunter, who hit two big 3s down the stretch, into the starting lineup in the second half.
4. Johnson’s injury comes as big blow to the Hawks, who have already been thin in the frontcourt.
Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher has missed the last five games with a left adductor strain. Larry Nance Jr. remains deep in his rehab following surgery. Center Clint Capela sat Thursday’s game with right knee soreness after a hard fall on Wednesday.
So the Hawks tapped two-way big Dominick Barlow for their back minutes at the five.
5. Barlow showed why the Hawks have confidence in his skills, scoring nine points in his first 10 minutes of action.
He hustled on both ends of he floor, moving without the basketball to find the most advantageous shot. With 2:51 to play in the third quarter, he slipped behind four defenders and caught a lob from Young before finishing with a dunk to cut the Hawks deficit to 89-82 and forced a Raptors timeout.
“He’s great,” Bogdanovic said. “I’ve been playing him one-on-one a little bit when I was coming back. He’s a high-competitive guy.”
Stat to know
38 - Bogdanovic recorded his 38th game with 20-plus points off the bench in his Hawks career. It’s the second-most such games by a Hawks reserve (Jamal Crawford: 50).
Quotable
“I saw some space on my left side, and I think RJ (Barrett) did too. That’s why he kind of dropped back, and I kind of stepped back and I saw the rim. It was a good shot. If it went in, we’d be celebrating. It didn’t. So now we’re here. So that’s what it is.” -- Trae Young on the penultimate possession of the game.
Up next
The Hawks face the Raptors again on Saturday night at State Farm Arena.
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