Atlanta Hawks Losing Streak Extended To Three With Ugly 131-105 Road Loss to Clippers

Atlanta has lost three in a row and are now 1-3 on their road trip so far

Jan 4, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles the ball against Los Angeles Clippers forward Nicolas Batum (33) during the second quarter at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The road trip has not been kind to the Atlanta Hawks so far. Ever since being competitive with the Nuggets in the first half on Wednesday, Atlanta has played 10 quarters of ugly basketball. Tonight, the Hawks were mostly non-competitve in a loss to the Clippers and now they have lost three games in a row and are at 18-18 overall. Now, Jalen Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic have been absent for two of the three losses, but the Hawks played sloppy basketball and let a huge Clippers second quarter decide the game.

A them in the early part of the Hawks season was that in losses, they would have one terrible quarter per game that would give the game a lopsided outcome. Tonight, that happened in the second quarter. The Clippers outscored the Hawks 45-26 and cruised the rest of the way against the short-handed Atlanta squad in Kawhi Leonard's return. Now, the Hawks have two days to get ready for the Utah Jazz (one of the NBA's worst teams) and try to get things back on track.

Tonight, the Hawks shot 43% from the field and 35% from three while turning the ball over 22 times. The defense for the Hawks was poor, but the offense being a turnover machine all night put them in terrible positions and gave the Clippers plenty of easy buckets. Young led the way with 20 points and 14 assists, Zaccharie Risacher had a solid game with 13 points, De'Andre Hunter had 18 off the bench, and Garrison Matthews had 15, though 12 of those were in the first half.

The Clippers shot 55% from the field and 36% from three tonight. They scored 74 points in the paint and had 69 points from their bench. LA had eight players in double figures, including 18 points and 18 rebounds from Ivica Zubac, who dominated tonight. Another area where the Clippers dominated was in fast break points, winning that battle 46-14, showing how devastating the Hawks's turnovers were. The Clippers scored 32 points off of the Hawks 22 turnovers.

The Hawks starters tonight were Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Vit Krejci, and Clint Capela. The Clippers first five were James Harden, Kris Dunn, Norm Powell, Kawhi Leonari, and Ivica Zubac,

The 1st quarter was defined by big runs from both teams. After Krejci hit a three to give the Hawks a 14-13 lead, the Clippers responded with a massive 16-0 run to go up 29-14 and it looked like they had seized control of the game early. Turnovers were killing the Hawks and they could not buy a bucket. The rest of the way in the quarter, it was all Hawks. Spurred on by big quarters from Garrison Matthews (7 points) off the bench and the rookie Risacher (7 points), Atlanta ended the quarter on a 14-0 run to cut the lead to 29-28 heading into the second quarter. The Hawks were shooting 47% from the field and 46% from three and had seven turnovers.

Zacch BIG dunk on the break pic.twitter.com/nuFIOJhpJh

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 5, 2025

As quickly as the Hawks got back into the game, they went right back out of it and the reasons were similar to how they dug a hole at the beginning of the game. The Clippers had a 25-4 run in the second quarter where and they took over. A 39-35 Clippers lead suddenly morphed into a 61-39 Clippers lead and it got as big as 27 points. Atlanta could not stop turning the ball over on offense and while the defense was not great, the turnovers were contributing to the poor defensive numbers.

The Hawks were outscored 45-26 in the second quarter and while they did hit some baskets at the end of the quarter, they trailed 74-54 heading into the locker room. ATL shot 4-14 from three and had six turnovers while LAC was 7-11 from three in the second quarter.

At the half, the Hawks were shooting 42% from the field and 36% from three. They also had 13 turnovers compared to only seven from the Clippers. Young and Matthews were the only Hawks in double-figures and had 12 each.

The Clippers shot 55% from the field and 45% from three. Powell led the way with 17 points, Amir Coffey had 15 off the bench, and Derrick Jones Jr had 12. 42 of the Cliippers 74 first half points were in the paint.

In hopes of making a run to start the second half and get back in the game, the Hawks started De'Andre Hunter instead of Krejci. The Hawks opened the quarter well, getting the lead down to 15, thanks in large part to a pair of threes from Trae Young. Aside from Young though, the Hawks had a tough time getting anything going. Atlanta shot 3-11 from three in the third quarter and could not capitalize on some open looks. Near the end of the quarter and trailing by 18, Young found Hunter wide open in the corner and he had a chance to cut it to 15, but he missed. The Clippers forced a pair of turnovers on the possessions afterward and Atlanta blew their chance to really get back in it. The Clippers would get the lead up to 98-76 heading into the final quarter.

The Hawks never made a run in the game and lost 131-105. They are back on the court this Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz on the road.