The Atlanta Hawks were in action on Friday night to face the Chicago Bulls in an NBA Cup game. The Hawks came in 1-0 in group play, defeating the Washington Wizards, while the Bulls are 0-1 after losing to the Boston Celtics two weeks ago.
The Bulls are coming in with some big injury news, as Caleb Wilson is set to miss several weeks after having hand surgery. The good news for them is that Normal Powell returned to the lineup after dealing with an injury. For the Hawks, Kingston Flemings was available
after being listed as questionable with a lumbar spasm.
Jalen Johnson got things rolling for the Hawks to start the game.
Outside of Johnson and Dyson Daniels, the other Hawks’ starters couldn’t find much offense in the quarter, and that came with several rough turnovers. As for the Bulls, they were efficient, which led to them taking an early double digit lead.
The bench was able to come in and put some points on the board, and of course, it was Aaron Wiggins who led the group.
The Hawks were able to cut into their deficit just a little, but it was obvious that Powell was going to be a problem in this one, finishing the quarter with 10 points. Going into the second, the Hawks trailed 33-24.
The Bulls extended their lead to start the second, but CJ McCollum tried to combat it with an easy floater in the lane.
Unfortunately, that didn’t last for long, as the Bulls continued their hot shooting from the 3-point line, and they extended their lead to as large as 18 points.
The Hawks were able to once again cut into the deficit, and they did it by pushing the pace and getting out in transition. It’s how Johnson got this easy dunk.
Johnson crashed the board hard in the first half as well, which led to him getting this and-one opportunity.
The Bulls came back down to earth late in the quarter, and it allowed the Hawks to get their deficit down to single digits once again. Going into halftime, the Hawks trailed 60-53.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker found some life on both sides of the ball to start the quarter, turning defense into offense.
The Hawks followed his lead, and they were able to get several more stops to keep cutting into their deficit. The ball was moving better in the second half as well without many turnovers. Alexander-Walker found Johnson for this easy layup.
It was more defense turning into offense for the Hawks, and this time it was Lu Dort who joined the fun.
Later on, Dort extended his range beyond the 3-point line to get the Hawks within one point.
It was more of Dort down the stretch of the game, as he got another steal to tie the game.
The Hawks weren’t able to take the lead in the quarter, but they did trail 84-83 going into the fourth.
As much as it felt like the Hawks had life to start the fourth, the Bulls went on an 11-2 run to bring their lead back to double digits. That forced the Hawks to have to fight back again. Johnson took over for the Hawks, willing his way to the paint for easy looks.
McCollum got it going for the Hawks as well, and he was able to tie the game.
It felt like every time the Hawks were in striking distance, the Bulls would hit a big shot, and that’s what they did, going on a 7-0 run. That didn’t bother the Hawks, more specifically Johnson, who once again put his imprint on the game. He found Okongwu for this 3-pointer, the got some points of his own in transition to tie the game.
With less than a minute remaining, the Hawks got a good shot from Alexander-Walker in transition, but he missed. That gave the Bulls an opportunity to take the lead, but they also missed on their chance.
With 4.0 seconds, the Hawks got another good look, but Wiggins fumbled the ball, and it went out of bounds. That gave the Bulls another chance, but they didn’t capitalize, and the game went to overtime.
The Hawks were able to attack first, but that was all they had as Powell took over for the Bulls. Unfortunately, the Hawks couldn’t match their energy, and they walked out with a loss.
Johnson finished the game with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, McCollum finished with 20 points, an Alexander-Walker finished with 16 points.
The Hawks will be back in action on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
