RECAP: Oklahoma City Pulls Away From Atlanta in the Fourth Quarter and Hands the Hawks Their First Loss of the Year

Oklahoma City outscored Atlanta 40-18 in the fourth quarter of tonight's game, which they won

Oct 27, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket around Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins (21) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Atlanta came into tonight's game against Oklahoma City with a 2-0 record and a lot of things to be feeling good about and while they were shorthanded tonight, they faced a different level of team tonight. The Thunder have looked great to start the year and while Atlanta battled them for the first three quarters, the Thunder's talent was too much in the final frame. The Thunder are a deep team, but it was their three stars that won the game for them.

The Hawks led the Thunder at halftime and were trailing only by three going into the fourth quarter. The Thunder proceeded to outscore the Hawks 39-18 in the final quarter to win the game convincingly 128-104.

A big problem for the Hawks in this game was turnovers. The Hawks comitted 19 turnovers and 10 of them were from Trae Young. Young has had a great start to the year, but turnovers were a problem tonight.

This was also the first start for No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher, who was starting in place of De'Andre Hunter. Risacher finished with 13 points on 6-12 shooting and also pulled in six rebounds. It was not perfect, but Risacher flashed in this game.

Trae Young led the way for the Hawks in this game, finishing with 24 points and eight assists, shooting 7-14 from the field.

It was another struggle game for Jalen Johnson. He scored the first three points of the game, but finished with seven points on 3-13 shooting, plus nine rebounds. In games against high-level teams like the Thunder, the Hawks need Johnson and he did not deliver tonight. He should bounce back soon but it has been a slow start to the year.

It was not just Johnson though. Dyson Daniels was the star of the first two Hawks and games and while he was fine defensively, he struggled on offense. He finished with seven points on 3-11 shooting and was a team worst -25. Daniels has been huge to start the year, but struggled mightily tonight.

For the game, the Hawks shot 40% from the field and 32% from three.

The Hawk's defense struggled in this game, especially in the second half. Oklahoma City finished the game shooting 49% from the field and 40% from three.

The star trio for the Thunder led the way. It was a great game for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who nearly had a triple double, finishing with 35 points, nine rebounds, and 11 assists. Chet Holmgren had 25 points and nine rebounds, while Jalen Williams finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.

Let's recap tonight's game.

The first five on the floor for the Hawks were Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela.

The Thunder started Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Aaron Wiggins, Lou Dort, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren.

It was a good start to the game for the Hawks. Jalen Johnson opened the scoring up with a three and he and Trae Young were leading the way for the Hawks on the offensive end. Johnson and Young combined for the first 11 Hawks points and they led 11-9 at the first timeout with 6:43 in the first quarter.

Tra3 from Norman 🎯 pic.twitter.com/LrDg75Jnk3

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 27, 2024

After the timeout, David Roddy was the first sub in the game. With De'Andre Hunter out, the Hawks were going to have to go into their bench for help and Roddy got his first regular season action of the year. He got four quick points off the bench, including points off his own missed free throw.

Risacher had five straight points out of the timeout and the Hawks led 20-16 with 4:25 left.

Aside from Roddy, the Hawks brought Onyeka Okongwu, Garrison Matthews, and Vit Krejci off the bench in the first quarter.

The Hawks had a problem with turnovers in the opening quarter, but found a way to lead 27-23 after the first. Atlanta shot 40% from the field and 44% from three in the opening quarter, while Young led the Hawks with six points. Risacher and Johnson each had five points and Johnson had this highlight block:

REJJECTED 😱☝️ pic.twitter.com/kvEoxX3z4p

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 27, 2024

Entering the second quarter, the Hawks kept Young on the bench and that has been a problem this year. During the first stint of the game without him though, Atlanta held their own. Krejci, Daniels, Matthews, Johnson, and Okongwu were the five on the floor and they did a good job of maintaining the lead until Trae came back in with 8:05 left in the first half. Risacher also checked back in alongside Young.

Last year's MVP runner-up was carrying the Thunder offensively to start the game. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 13 of the Thunder's first 36 points and was the only thing they had consistently.

The stars of the second quarter were Young, Risacher, and Roddy. The Hawks had to have some help off the bench and Roddy was perfect in the first half

Roddy Ricch 💰 pic.twitter.com/0Za6pdd8Ig

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 28, 2024

Risacher's impact was more so on the defensive sidr, but he ended up being the second leading scorer for the Hawks at the half.

As good as the first half was, the second haf was the opposite, especially the 4th quarter. The Thunder started the quarter off with an 11-4 run and led 68-62 with 9:18 in the quarter. The Hawks actually went on an 11-5 run to take the lead over Oklahoma City and they only trailed by three going into the fourth quarter. That is where everything got turned on its head.

Oklahoma City proceeded to shoot 61% from the field and 44% from three, while the Hawks were 30% from the field and 0-6 from three. The Thunder won the game 128-104 and improved to 3-0.

The Hawks are back at State Farm Arena tomorrow night to face the Washington Wizards. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.