The Hawks looked to rebound from their first loss of the season, this time in the Lone Star State against the Houston Rockets.
Atlanta kept their usual starting lineup whereas the Rockets welcomed back Fred VanVleet to their lineup after a one-game absence, joining Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun.
Neither team took control of the game, and so the lead passed back and forth multiple times in the first quarter alone. The Hawks had trouble protecting the paint with the Rockets
backcutting them to death at times.
But the Hawks hit a couple of transition threes off stops, including a big one from Onyeka Okongwu to hopefully break a cold spell:
The bench came in and injected some energy on both ends with the likes of Kingston Flemings, Aaron Wiggins, and Jock Landale asserting themselves:
After one quarter, the Hawks led 35-32.
The second quarter was more of the same, with a couple of extended runs from either side mixed in.
First, the Rockets went on a 14-3 scoring run. But the Hawks later countered with a 14-6 run of their own.
CJ McCollum got hot and provided some buckets when the offense went cold. And Aaron Wiggins continued his solid play off the bench, including coming in to finish the half when Nickeil Alexander-Walker picked up his third foul.
At halftime, the Hawks held a three-point advantage, 66-63. McCollum finished the first half with 15 points which led all scorers.
Early in the third quarter, ‘NAW’ picked up his fourth foul trying to stop Kevin Durant in transition, so it was another extended stretch for Wiggins.
But midway through the quarter, the Rockets went on a 10-0 run as the Hawks’ offense hit the skids. But Lu Dort of all people helped spark a 7-0 run in response to prevent the game from getting away:
After three quarters, the Rockets turned the tables with a 91-85 edge.
The Hawks continued to be plagued by poor three-point shooting, and after taking care of the ball for the majority of the night, they coughed the ball up after driving into the teeth of Houston’s aggressive defense over and over.
Atlanta fell without much of a late fight, 120-110. Alperen Sengun was the star with 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Wednesday, the Hawks return home to take on the reeling Miami Heat.
