The Atlanta Hawks were in Memphis on Wednesday evening to take on the Memphis Grizzlies. The Hawks came in looking for anything to work as they were riding a four-game losing streak after suffering a tough defeat against the Milwaukee Bucks on MLK Day.
As for the Grizzlies, they’re coming off a win against the Orlando Magic in London, and they got Ja Morant back after he missed time with an injury.
For the Hawks, they were still without Zaccharie Risacher and Kristaps Porzingis, as they are set to
be re-evaluated sometime next week.
It was not a good start for the Hawks, as they went down 12-1 early, and couldn’t get a bucket to fall. The shots eventually started to go down, and Onyeka Okongwu’s two three-pointers helped them get back into it.
Once Okongwu started to get into a rhythm, Jalen Johnson followed suit with a few shots of his own.
The defense took it up a notch in the quarter as well, and Mouhamed Gueye put his imprint on the game to eventually give the Hawks the lead.
It was a homecoming for Luke Kennard as he got to face his former team, and he made it worth his while in this one, knocking down shot after shot. Going into the second, the Hawks trailed 32-31.
Kennard continued to light it up going into the second, and it was almost as if he couldn’t miss. (He couldn’t)
The Grizzlies and Hawks got into a little of a squirmish in the second that involved Morant and Gueye, and they were both assessed technical fouls.
Christian Koloko got his first minutes on the Hawks and made an immediate impact with a huge dunk.
Johnson turned into a quarterback in the second and threw a perfect pass down court to Vit Krejci for a layup. While he was making opportunities for others, he also got his own in transition.
The Hawks were able to grab the lead midway through the quarter and extended it late. After a rough start in the first half, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was able to finally get a shot to go from deep.
Johnson ended the half strong, going to the rim on Jaren Jackson Jr., and the Hawks went into halftime leading 66-59.
The Hawks did not start off the second half as they wanted to, and the Grizzlies tied the game early. The Hawks didn’t let it bother them, and Corey Kispert gave them the lead back.
CJ McCollum found Gueye for an easy dump off into a floater.
The Grizzlies started to pull away just a little bit, but the Hawks kept it close by continuing to execute on offense. The Hawks were active on the boards on this play, and it got Okongwu the bucket plus the foul to cut down their deficit.
If the Hawks could find Kennard on every play, it would’ve done wonders, because he couldn’t miss through the third quarter. He even turned defense into offense with a steal, finding McCollum for a three-pointer.
The Hawks took the lead at one point late in the quarter, but Morant put the Grizzlies back on top going into the fourth, leading 95-94.
Vit Krejci knocked down a three-pointer in transition to tie the game early in the fourth.
Nobody could stop Johnson in his tracks on this transition play, and the only thing the Grizzlies could do was try to foul him. Unfortunately for them, he still made the dunk.
Koloko continued to show his impact in his first game and knocked down a big three-pointer to give the Hawks the lead.
The Grizzlies took the lead after this, but not for long. Johnson turned defense into offense and found Alexander-Walker in the corner for a three-pointer, giving the Hawks a four-point lead.
The Grizzlies fought back, but the Hawks continued to make the right plays when they needed them.
With seconds remaining and the Hawks up two, Johnson missed the jumper to give them a four-point lead. The Grizzlies grabbed the rebound and didn’t call a timeout, so this was going to be the game. Morant took the ball and fumbled it for a minute, and had to chuck up a three-pointer at the buzzer that didn’t drop. With that, the Hawks were able to break their four-game winning streak and get back in the win column.
Johnson finished with 32 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists; Kennard finished with 18 points, and Okongwu finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.
The Hawks will be back in action on Friday against the Phoenix Suns.
