Warriors Pull Away From Hawks In the Second Half and Send Them To Third Straight Loss
Atlanta came into the game against the Warriors hoping to end their two-game losing streak and head home with some momentum. This was the first game for the Warriors since the passing of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic and the team had a ceremony before the game.
It was going to be an emotional night for basketball, in a game both teams needed to win.
With Trae Young still out, Atlanta stuck with their lineup of Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela were the first five on the floor for the Hawks.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Dario Saric, and Kevon Looney were the starters for the Warriors tonight.
The first half of this game was an exciting back-and-forth between two teams that could use a win. Neither the Hawks nor the Warriors have good defenses and that led to both teams scoring nearly 70 points each in the first half.
After the loss to the Kings on Monday, I wrote that the Hawks needed to have more bench production with Young and Hunter still out if they wanted to win and in the first half, at least one Hawk showed that.
It was a hot start for both teams, with the game tied 15-15 at the first timeout with 6:49 left. Johnson and Murray had five points each and Curry and Saric also had five each.
Head coach Quin Snyder stuck with his nine-man rotation tonight with only 11 active players. Patty Mills, Garrison Matthews, Onyeka Okongwu, and Trent Forrest came off the bench for the Hawks.
This first half was a great showing for Mills. He has not played much for the Hawks this season, but he can still shoot the ball well, moves around in the offense, and had some timely steals tonight. He gave the Hawks a huge boost in the first half and let Atlanta hang around with Golden State.
The first quarter did not end well for the Hawks. After the game was tied 25-25, Golden State went on a 13-6 run to take a 38-31 lead.
The second quarter is where the Hawks made their first big move to cut into the lead. Atlanta would go on to score 37 points in the second quarter alone and Murray did not even score a point. It was a huge second quarter led by Johnson, Bogdanovic, and Bey, who all had at least 8 points. They outscored the Warriors 37-31 in the second quarter and trailed 69-68 going into the half.
Atlanta was shooting 48% from the field in the first half and 42.3% from three. Jalen Johnson had an incredible first half, scoring 17 points, grabbing six rebounds, and dishing out five assists. It was just one half, but Johnson was already flirting with a triple-double. Bey had 13 points in the first half, Bogdanovic had 12, and Mills had 11.
Golden State 53% from the field and 50% from three in the first half.
Atlanta went into the first half trailing by one, but the Warriors pulled away from the Hawks in the second half and the game was not as close.
Hawks guard Patty Mills vs the Warriors
The Warriors did not immediately pull away from the Hawks though. Atlanta did lead 78-77 at the first timeout of the second half with 6:59 left.
Curry and Thompson might not be the Splash brothers from the past decade, but they had a big third quarter, combining for 16 points.
The third quarter quickly started to go downhill for the Hawks after that though. The Warriors took a nine-point lead going into the fourth quarter and they pushed that lead to 13 with 9:08 left in the game.
The Warriors had another 30-point quarter and outscored the Hawks 65-44 in the second half.
The most incredible thing from this game might be the fact that Jonathan Kuminga did not miss a shot. Kuminga shot 11 for 11 and scored 25 points, tied with Curry for the most in the game. Thompson scored 24 points and shot 5-10 from three.
Golden State shot 56% from the field and 49% from three in the game. The Hawks could not stop the Warriors in this game and when their own offense went cold, it was game over.
Atlanta shot 41% from the field and 32% from three in this game. The numbers from the second half doomed the Hawks. Atlanta shot 34% from the field and 17% from three (3-17).
Johnson and Mills had great starts for the Hawks but combined for just six points in the second half. Murray would lead the Hawks with 23 points on 7-19 shooting.
Two glaring stats from this game: Golden State's bench outscored Atlanta's 61-21 and the Warriors outscored the Hawks in the paint 62-42.
This is now Atlanta's third loss and puts them at 18-26 for the season. They return home to face Dallas on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
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