The Atlanta Hawks hosted the Chicago Bulls for the second time in three days. The result of Tuesday’s game was the same as Sunday’s game: a loss.
The final two seconds of this game told the tale. The Hawks gave up three free throws to the Bulls and lost, despite Chicago not having to make a basket.
Final score: Bulls 126, Hawks 123.
The Hawks were without guard Dyson Daniels, who was listed out of the lineup with a hip injury, and big man Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed the majority of the team’s 30 games this season. Nickel Alexander-Walker was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Trae Young (35 points and nine assists on Sunday) returned from injury. Alexander-Walker (20.3 points per game) gives the Hawks’ starting lineup that much-needed third scoring option after Young and Jalen Johnson (28.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game).
Following the game, Young said he and his teammates will have to learn from games like this. “We’re trying to figure out how to execute down the stretch, whether it’s me or Jalen,” Young said.
The Hawks got off to a better start in this game, going ahead 7-0 before the Bulls eventually tied the game at 16. Atlanta would take and maintain a lead throughout the first quarter behind Young, who is on a minutes restriction at the moment. His three-pointer and floater, plus a foul, looked like vintage Trae Young baskets.
The Hawks closed the first quarter with a 36-30 advantage, and led by as much as 13 in the second quarter after rookie forward Asa Newell dunked following a steal, and then hit a corner three on the next Hawks possession. Young found Johnson with a no-look pass to bring the lead up to 15 with less than five minutes to play in the first half. With less than a minute to play in the half, the Bulls closed the gap a bit, getting scoring from Coby White down the stretch, but a pair of free throws from Young gave Atlanta a 68-55 lead at the half. During the first half, Young, Johnson, and Alexander-Walker combined for 38 points.
The first couple of minutes of the second half saw Chicago forward Nikola Vucevic score eight of the Bulls’ first 14 points to cut the Hawks’ lead to just eight points. The Hawks would put together a run that included a three-point play from Young and a three-pointer from forward Zaccharie Risacher to re-establish a double-figure lead and force a Bulls timeout with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
With less than two minutes to play in the quarter, Newell, whose minutes have been up and down this season, connected on a pair of three-pointers that got the supporter section chanting his name and out the Hawks 102-87. Newell, an Atlanta native, played his single season of college hoops at the University of Georgia before being drafted by the Hawks in the first round of last year’s draft. Atlanta ended the third quarter ahead by 13 points.
NBA basketball, more than any other level of the sport, is a game of runs. The Bulls had another run in them, and went on a quick 6-0 run to force Hawks head coach Quin Snyder to call a time out with the score now 105-98 with 9:41 on the game clock.
Johnson has been the Hawks’ go-to man all season, and with the momentum about to shift toward Chicago like a wind off of Lake Michigan, Johnson drove to the basket, scored, and was fouled in the process. Atlanta maintained a 10-point advantage with 5:41 on the clock and an eight-point lead with 4:02 remaining in the game. The two teams were back-to-back in the standings coming into the game, and this particular affair was equally as close throughout.
Chicago pulled within a point at 117-116 when White hit a three-pointer with a Hawks defender in his face. Johnson added another jumper to give Atlanta a 119-116 cushion with 1:43 left to play in the game. White’s free throws made it a one-point game again seconds later. Giddey’s jumper in the lane with 40 seconds left put the Bulls ahead 122-119.
The last 40 seconds of this game tell the tale. With Chicago ahead 122-121, Bulls guard Coby White went to the free throw line and proceeded to make one of two free throws to give his team a two-point lead with six seconds in the game. Alexander-Walker’s layup tied the game at 123 with 1.9 seconds to play.
Atlanta, off on Christmas Day, isn’t done with the home games. The Hawks will host the Miami Heat on Friday, December 26, and the New York Knicks on Saturday, December 27. Those games will be the first time the Hawks face the Heat and Knicks this season.
The last home game of the year will take place on New Year’s Eve when the Minnesota Timberwolves and Atlanta native Anthony Edwards will be in town for an afternoon tip-off (2 p.m.). The new year will begin with a three-game homestand. The Hawks and Young will be in New York at Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks on January 2, and follow that up with consecutive games in Toronto against the Raptors on January 3 and 5.
