Utah Jazz Spoil Jalen Johnson's Return and Sends Atlanta to Their Third Straight Loss

Atlanta is back in action on Sunday vs the Clippers

The struggles continue for the Hawks. 

They came into the night hopeful that the return of Jalen Johnson would boost them to victory over a Jazz team that was missing Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson. Even without Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Hawks came into the night favored against Utah, but they left with their third straight loss heading into a tough three-game stretch vs the Clippers, Lakers, and the Suns. 

Johnson was back in the starting lineup along with Dejounte Murray, Vit Krejci, Wesley Matthews, and Clint Capela. 

Utah started Keyonte George, Collin Sexton, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, and John Collins. 

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, but the Hawks were having early issues with the Jazz. Utah was doing well in the paint and a big reason for that was rookie Keyonte George getting to the basket. 

Utah was led though by a former member of the Hawks. John Collins, who did not have a great night in the first matchup between the two teams in his return to Atlanta, had 11 in the first quarter. George and Sexton combined for 13 points in the first quarter for Utah. 

The Hawks got an unexpected contribution in the first quarter from Wesley Matthews. While he was a starter, Matthews has struggled from the three-point line this season, but he hit his first three attempts in the first quarter and he was the leading scorer for the Hawks with nine points. 

Wes-Three Matthews 🔥🔥🔥

3-3 from deep to start the night! pic.twitter.com/UdK4hXucmH

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 16, 2024

The Hawks bench unit tonight was De'Andre Hunter, Garrison Matthews, Trent Forrest, and Bruno Fernando. 

Utah led 34-28 after the first. It appeared that Garrison Matthews hit a three as time expired, but he did not get it off at time and the Hawks trailed by six after the first. 

The second quarter belonged to the Hawks, mainly De'Andre Hunter. 

Hunter scored 11 points in the second quarter, leading the way for the Hawks to take the lead. Atlanta stayed hot from three, hitting 5-9 in the second quarter. Capela also had a big second quarter, with eight points and five rebounds. Atlanta was able to hold Utah to 3-10 shooting from three in the quarter. The Hawks were able to take back the lead 62-61 heading into the half. Hunter led the way with 14 points, Johnson looked good in his first game back with 11 in the first half, and Murray had 10 points and seven assists. 

Atlanta shot 48% from the field and 50% from three in the first half. The Hawks' three-point shooting was the No. 1 reason they were ahead at the half. 

Collins (13) and Sexton (10) led the way for the Jazz and they shot 46% and 32% from three in the first half. 

CC blocks and CC dunks!! pic.twitter.com/WAgo9KrM6p

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 16, 2024

The second half started as a duel between Sensabaugh and Johnson. 

Johnson scored the first seven points of the half for the Hawks and Sensabaugh scored six of the first 11 for Utah and the Jazz grabbed the lead back at the first timeout 72-69. 

Utah would find their rhythm in what was a weird third quarter. Both teams would shoot a lot of free throws and that was the only source of offense for Atlanta. After Johnson scored the first seven points of the quarter for the Hawks, he could not find a rhythm and Murray was struggling from the field after a 40-point performance in Portland, it was an off night for Dejounte so far. 

Hunter would keep the Hawks in the game though. He scored 11 in the quarter, giving him 25 points overall. 

Murray was struggling from the field and it looked like the Hawks were going to trail by five going into the fourth quarter. However, Murray hit a buzzer-beating shot to send it to the final quarter and the Hawks trailed by only two. 

DJ from the other side of the Salt Lake at the buzzer 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Q4sGeruoMq

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 16, 2024

With some key guys out tonight, Utah was going to have to rely on guys they would not normally rely on and one of those guys was Micah Potter. He made his mark in the second half and scored six of those early in the fourth quarter. His signature play came on a three-point show when he was fouled by Garrison Matthews and it turned into a four-point play for the Jazz. Utah all of a sudden led by nine after that play. 

Atlanta would not go away though. Jalen Johnson was back in the game and hit two threes and Atlanta got it right back to two points 108-106 with 8:13 left. 

After the timeout, Utah got on a quick 8-0 and got the lead up to 10. Quin Snyder called a timeout to try and figure things out for Atlanta. It looked like things were getting dire for the Hawks, but they had one more run in them. 

With 1:56 left Atlanta trailed by eight after a layup from Keyonte George. Murray went down and hit a three to cut it to five and then Atlanta forced a turnover which led to Murray walking right into another three to cut the lead to two points with 1:18 left in the game. 

After a miss from Sexton, Atlanta had a chance to take the lead or tie the game. Murray had two open looks at the basket and missed both, giving the ball back to Utah with 35 seconds left. 

The Hawks needed one more defensive stop and they got it. George attempted a three and did not hit the rim and it was a shot clock violation. The Hawks had one more chance with 8.9 seconds left. 

You would expect the Hawks to want to get the ball to Dejounte Murray and they did. Utah sent a double team at Murray and he passed out of it to an open three-point attempt for Vit Krejci and he missed it. Utah won by two and sent the Hawks to their third straight loss. While Krejci is not necessarily the guy you want shooting the ball, it was an open shot and I don't think it was a bad look. It just did not go in and that is all that matters for the Hawks.

Mar 15, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray (5) drives against Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) during the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

The Hawks were led by their big three of Murray (33 points), Johnson (26 points), and Hunter (27 points). The three-point shooting for the Hawks was also fantastic in this game, as they hit 20-39. It was the main reason the Hawks stayed in the game. Poor defense and poor free throw shooting for the Hawks is what lost them this game. Atlanta was 20-27 (74%) from the line and in a two-point loss, those make a huge difference. 

Utah was led by George (25 points), Sexton (21 points), and Collins (18). Johnny Juzang also had a big night off the bench, scoring 19 points and hitting five threes. 

It has been apparent since he went down, but the Hawks offense misses Trae Young badly. They are having to rely on Murray shooting the ball a lot and while he and Johnson both had big nights scoring, they were inefficient. 

Things are not going to get any easier for the Hawks either. They have the Clippers, Lakers, and Suns to close out the road trip and without Young, Okogwu, or Bogdanovic, the Hawks might just lose them all. 

Atlanta's next opponent is the L.A. Clippers on Sunday at 9:30. 

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