Knicks jumped out to a 20-6 lead on the Hawks in the first quarter as the Hawks struggled to find their offense. They shot over 60% in that quarter and the Hawks just couldn’t find their rhythm.
The second quarter started with a goal tend call to count Dennis’ basket, then a Mike Scott three. With a few turnovers from the Knicks, and a three from Lamar Patterson, the Hawks found themselves down just five with 8:28 minutes left in the second quarter. This was the “Mike Scott quarter” as he had nine points off of the bench for the Hawks and they were within three. Hawks couldn’t convert on a couple of possessions and the Knicks went up ten. With a lot of back and forth action and open shots for the Knicks, they still had a ten-point lead with less than three minutes left in the first half. Jeff hit a three at the buzzer and the Hawks were down three at the half. Al Horford knocked down the jumper to open the second half and an Arron Afflalo three rimmed in and out. He did knock down his next three attempt. Knicks were shooting 50% from three at that point of the game. Paul Millsap cleaned up Jeff’s drive to the bucket and then hit a left hook shot over Robin Lopez. The third was a much better quarter offensively for the Hawks as they went on a 11-2 run, finishing with a Kent Bazemore corner three, to take the lead 71-68 over the Knicks. Mike Scott had 14 points. He hit a three and then a layup off of the assist from Thabo and the Hawks went up ten with 4:46 minutes left in the third. Mike Scott had a season-high of 16 points and gave the Hawks a big push as they’d end the third quarter leading the Knicks 87-75. The offense came in the form of free throws from Mike Scott early in the fourth quarter. Lamar Patterson with the nice drive to the basket to lay it up, he had 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Dennis passed it to Al who passed it to Thabo, while falling out of bounds, for the and-1 play. Back-to-back buckets from the Knicks couldn’t help them when they left Al open for the midrange jumper. Kyle Korver knocked down his first three of the game and the Hawks were up 105-85 with 6:10 left in the game. Hawks remained in total control of the game as they maintained a 20-point lead with 2:24 left. They’d finish off their first contest against the Knicks winning 117-98.
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The positive aspect about the start was Jeff Teague’s aggressiveness. On the opposing side, Detroit played with the same intensity and answered shots while grabbing offensive and defensive boards. The Hawks trailed the Pistons by four with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Reggie Jackson came with a three-point play and the Hawks down five until Dennis drew the foul driving to the basket. Coach Bud went with Hack-A-Drummond on Andre Drummond with two minutes left in the 1st quarter. It proved useful even though Drummond went 3/6 at the line, but the Hawks took the lead with 1:09 on the clock. Dennis had a hot start and the 11-point quarter to put the Hawks up one at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started with Lamar Patterson’s third foul and a three-point play from Marcus Morris. It was followed by a circus shot from Kent for the and-1 play. Aron Baynes was fouled on a shot attempt to head to the line and then Drummond with the strong post move on Al Horford, and the Pistons went up four with 9:02 to go in the 2nd quarter. Hack-A-Drummond with 8:33 to go in the 2nd quarter. A Mike Scott three and Al Horford midrange jumper put the Hawks up three. Dennis hit Paul Millsap with the no-look assist for the three ball. These sequences were followed by Tiago with back-to-back hook shots, and the Hawks went up 52-42. Offense just flowing ever-so-nicely for the Hawks as they’d go up 13. Jeff with the steal and one-handed dunk and then a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope three to slow down the Hawks run. The guard play for the Hawks was spectacular as Jeff Teague had a line of 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals at the half. Hawks were off and running in the third quarter as they went up 20 points. Jeff Teague continued with an impressive line with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals. Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris were keeping the Pistons alive as Morris scored in the paint to make the lead 74-55 with 6:06 left in the third. Morris found Drummond under the basket for the dunk, Hawks 78, Pistons 60 with 3:55 to go. Hack-a-Drummond was enacted with 2:39 on the 3rd quarter clock. Hawks led 82-67 at the end of the third. A little exchange of buckets to begin the fourth. Drummond playing clean-up around the basket to keep Detroit in a somewhat “reachable” distance, 90-74 with 8:50 on the clock. The fatigue of it being the second game of a back-to-back could have been showing for Detroit. Hack-A-Drummond enacted with 8:50 left. The exchange of baskets started again, Drummond had 21 points but the Hawks still led 98-82 with 5:49 left in the game. Detroit made it an 11-point game with less than four minutes left off of the leadership of Reggie Jackson but Jeff Teague wouldn’t let them get too close as they kept trading buckets. A Reggie Jackson three and Drummond bucket made it an 8-point game. The Hawks would go on to beat Detroit, 107-100. Tim Frazier was the first to score after five combined shot attempts from both teams. The game was off to a slow start as Al Horford was called for a foul causing a three-point play with Noah Vonleh. The Hawks finally got on the board with a goal tend call against Mason Plumlee. They trailed the Blazers by three with under nine minutes left. Paul Millsap posted up strong against Al-Farouq Aminu and drew the foul to bring the Hawks within one. Kent knocked down the three to give the Hawks a two-point lead. Portland went hard on the offensive boards to give them second opportunity shots. Hawks crowded the paint to create a turnover and were off to a 5-0 run. Kent slammed it off of the no-look pass from Thabo as the Hawks went up 5 (2:15). A Thabo three off of a pass from Tiago under the bucket and the offense was flowing. Hawks led 26-17 at the end of 1the first quarter, all the while shooting 9/19 from the field. Thabo and Paul with 6 each.
Hawks would take off in the beginning of the second quarter as offense flowed and Mike Scott knocked down a three. But the Blazers were right there answering with a three of their own. Dennis' quickness proved to be his strength as he drove to the bucket and increased the lead by 8 (8:05). Maurice Harkless scored five straight as the Trail Blazers would trail 40-35 with 6:07 left in the first half. Plumlee lobbed it to Harkless for the dunk. Thabo with great defense that led to a steal and three-point opportunity (he did not convert). Thabo's contribution of ten points gave the Hawks the boost they needed to stay ahead of the Blazers. Kent Bazemore with a chasedown block on Allen Crabbe and he was called for a foul…but Crabbe missed both free throws. Offense was flowing as the Hawks went on a 15-4 run to end the first half. They headed to the locker room leading the Blazers 55-43. Plumlee went on a 4-2 run against the Hawks to start the third quarter. A scary moment happened as it appeared Paul Millsap rolled his ankle. He was replaced by Mike Scott as he headed to the locker room. Hawks started settling for jumpshots after the Blazers made it an 8-point game (8:25). But Jeff recognized his matchup and zoomed around Plumlee to lay it in. Jeff drove and then passed the ball behind his back to Al on the perimeter who passed it to Kent for the three ball. Hawks went up 12. Paul Millsap returned to the bench after his ankle tweak. Gerald Henderson scored off of the pick -and-roll and the Hawks' lead was down to 10. Dennis followed with a baseline drive and the Hawks went up 70-56 with under two minutes left in the third. Dennis ended the quarter with a buzzer-beating deep three to put the Hawks up 77-58. The quarter where Dennis lost his tooth, the final quarter. It didn't slow him down as he knocked down a three to put the Hawks up 85-64. Henderson answered with a three of his own. Crabbe tried to make it a game as the Hawks wouldn't convert on their possessions, their lead was down to 12 with 2:36 left in the game. Aminu hit a three to bring the Hawks' lead down to 9, but he fouled Paul on the other end and the Blazers were over the limit. Hawks won their fourth straight, beating the Blazers 106-97. Despite eight turnovers, the Hawks ended the first quarter trailing the Orlando Magic by just four points. Orlando's defense proved to be troublesome for the Hawks. The Magic's offense didn't make it much easier as the Magic shot 12/19 from the field and 2/4 from three. Elfrid Payton provided 4 steals to ad in those turnovers.
Early in the second quarter, Mike Scott hit back-to-back threes to tie the game at 31 and then, during a subsequent possession, Lamar Patterson lobbed it to Al Horford for the dunk as the Hawks took the lead(9:54). Horford found plenty of open space under the basket and was able to jam another one in, giving the Hawks a four-point lead. Mike Scott with eight off of the bench with eight minutes to go in the 2nd quarter giving the Hawks a six-point lead. Payton ended the Hawks run making it a six-point game after Horford bumped it to eight. The Hawks' defense was able to keep Orlando to 2/10 from the field with less than six minutes left in the first half. Nikola Vucevic scored against Tiago Splitter followed by the Andrew Nicholson three-point play to knock the Hawks' lead down to nine. With Jeff Teague feeling comfortable and driving (and finishing at the rim), zero turnovers, and a couple of Horford dunks to end the quarter, Hawks were up 52-42 at halftime. Channing Frye opened the second half with a three and the Magic went on a 7-2 run (55-49). A common foul and then a technical foul were called on Frye. Kyle Korver hit a three but then committed a foul on Payton for a three-point play for a Hawks' six point lead. Korver with two threes early on, Jeff Teague with the movement. Evan Fournier knocked down a three and then made it to the line on significant plays. Vucevic posted up against Al and the lead was down to four and then Vucevic cleaned up Fournier's missed layup to make it a two-point game. Turnovers hurting the Hawks gave the Magic some motivation as they took a 5-point lead after Frye's trip to the line and Fournier's jumpshot. Half the quarter gone. Paul Millsap passed to Thabo in the paint who put it up and drew the foul. Hawks were down 2. Then Kent Bazemore with a three-point opportunity (he missed the FT) and the Hawks tied it. Orlando Coach Scott Skiles was called for a technical, Hawks lead bumped to two. Paul Millsap with the impressive slam. The Hawks ended the quarter trailing by 1 after Orlando outscored them 36-25. Early in the fourth, Mike Scott came through with an aggressive post-up to draw the foul for a three-point attempt. The game would go down to the wire. Lamar found Kyle for the three, resulting in the one-point lead for the Hawks…but only for a moment. Mike Scott hit a baseline jumper and then drew a foul on the other end. His contribution had been spectacular at this point as he had 12 points. Kyle Korver with back-to-back threes would give the Hawks a two-possession lead. Jason Smith was big for Orlando to keep them close as he hit 5/5 of his shots all in the fourth quarter. A Kent Bazemore three put the Hawks up two (5:30). Mike Scott with 15 points to tie his season high. Hawks missed many point-blank shots, some coming up short. They were unable to convert on Orlando's turnovers. Kent tied it up 100-all at the line with 1:52 left in the game. Great defense down the stretch from Al and then a possession that lead to a Kyle Korver three off of the assist from Jeff Teague for the lead with less than a minute left in the game. Hawks pressured the Magic on their last possession and won 103-100 to make that three wins in a row. |
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