The Atlanta Hawks hosted the San Antonio Spurs Friday evening in the first game of a home back-to-back. The Hawks come in off a loss to Dallas Mavericks Wednesday evening, looking to get back into the win column.
The Spurs ran away with this game behind a strong second quarter and never looked back, leading by as many as 30 points in the first half. From there, it would get even worse for Atlanta, and they eventually fell by a score of 125-114. The Hawks made a meaningless garbage-time run in the fourth, making the score look much closer than it actually was.
The Spurs got off to a scorching start offensively, scoring 21 points in the first six minutes and change, but Trae Young helped pull the Hawks back into the contest with 17 first quarter points, including 12 in a span of 3:04.
A late 7-0 San Antonio run left them up by seven heading to the second, and things unraveled from there for Atlanta. The Spurs outscored the Hawks 41-19 in the second quarter, as they shot 70% (14-of-20) from the floor.
Atlanta, meanwhile, shot just 8-of-23 (34.8%) from the floor in the period, and committed five turnovers. It was an unfortunate combination of the guests not missing, and the hosts not making.
The third quarter didn’t start off an better for Atlanta, as the Spurs opened up the second half with a 10-1 run to extend their lead to 87-49.
From there, the Hawks continued to trail by upwards of 40 points for much of the remainder of play, and pulled all of the starters before the fourth quarter even began. With another game tomorrow night, there was even more incentive to shut it down given the score.
The Hawks bench did mount a 22-4 run late, which still left them down 118-94, but it was far too late to be of any meaning. The Hawks outscored San Antonio 42-15 in the fourth, and still never got within single digits.
Skylar Mays got rolling late, finishing with 20 points in the second half and helping Atlanta make things look more respectable.
Young led Atlanta scorers with 25 points, and Clint Capela posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
DeMar Derozan (23) and Keldon Johnson (18) led a balanced San Antonio attack, Dejounte Murray adding 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Hawks face a quick turnaround as they welcome the Indiana Pacers to State Farm Arena on Saturday evening.
