Peachtree Hoops: Hawks struggle in first half, suffer 122-107 defeat to Sacramento Kings

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Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Atlanta Hawks traveled out west to take on the Sacramento Kings on Monday night. With Trae Young out due to a concussion, Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela were the starters.

Capela scored the first bucket of the night for the Hawks, but missed his next five attempts at the rim. The Kings were firing up three-pointers, making four of their first seven attempts.

Dejounte Murray scored three straight times, and the Hawks trailed by three points with just under three minutes remaining. The Hawks shot an unimpressive 7-for-25 in the first quarter yet only trailed 27-24. De’Aaron Fox was held in check, scoreless in the quarter, but the Hawks would certainly need more from the offense to compete in this game. Harrison Barnes was leading the Kings with 12 points.

The Hawks started the second quarter with five straight missed shots and a turnover to follow them. Unfortunately, it did not get any prettier from that point. The Hawks went on to shoot just 5-for-25 in the second quarter, an impressive regression from the first. They were outrebounding the Kings and had fewer turnovers, but it’s hard to overcome such a putrid half from the field.

The Atlanta Hawks finish the 1st half shooting 12-for-50 (TWELVE-FOR-FIFTY, 24%) from the field, and 3-for-19 (15.8%) from three

Kings lead 57-40 after a 16-point 2nd quarter for the Hawks.

— joe schmidt (@Joe_Schmidt07) January 23, 2024

After starting the third on the wrong end of a 9-2 run, the Hawks responded with a 10-0 run of their own. Johnson made a three-pointer, which was just his second make in 13 attempts, that pushed the score to 66-49 in the Kings’ favor. The run extended, and the Hawks were able to cut the deficit as low as 10.

Nightly Jalen Johnson slam #HawksHighlight pic.twitter.com/wMiTJk2Rt0

— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) January 23, 2024

And then it the lead was reduced to 10 again.

4-point play for DM5 pic.twitter.com/q199I0ZFNZ

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 23, 2024

Unfortunately, the Hawks put together four turnovers in six possessions before a Garrison Mathews three-pointer to end the quarter. The Kings led 87-69 at the end of the third.

The Hawks had a relatively solid start to the fourth quarter. However, they had dug too big of a hole. The Kings responded with buckets as needed to keep the lead at double-digits. Dejounte Murray cut the deficit to just eight with under two minutes remaining in the game. He then cut it to seven with a three-pointer, but De’Aaron Fox responded as the Kings had all night.

Murray finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. Harrison Barnes finished with 32 points.

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