Hawks fall to San Antonio Spurs 126-125 in the final seconds

The Hawks faced the San Antonio Spurs in De’Aaron Fox’s first game in uniform. Clint Capela was out due to personal reasons and Bogdan Bogdanovic was still not with the team. De’Andre Hunter remained in the starting lineup, joining Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, and Onyeka Okongwu.

Hunter sank two early three-pointers and the Hawks led 14-12 at the first timeout break. Devin Vassell scored a quick seven points for the Spurs. The Hawks couldn’t keep up with the Spurs’ offense and entered the second quarter trailing 35-25. The Hawks benefitted from Keaton Wallace finding the net twice off the bench.

The Hawks’ struggle to keep up continued into the second. They trailed 51-35 halfway through the quarter. Okongwu put in a master put back dunk, then Young found him in transition for another slam.

Okongwu went on to score 13 points in the second quarter, and the Hawks cut the deficit as low as 10. However, the Spurs ballooned the lead back to 18 before half. Okongwu led the way with 16 points, and Daniels joined him in double figures with 12.

Similar to the opening of the game, Hunter knocked down a pair of threes to start the second half. Late in the third, Daniels did what he does best and the Hawks brought the game within eight points. On the following possession, De’Andre Hunter drilled a three to bring it within five and force a Spurs timeout. The score was 103-97 in the Spurs’ favor entering the fourth.

Dominick Barlow put in some good minutes early in the fourth. He scored a layup as well as a three-pointer, helping the Hawks bring the game within one possession. It was a five point game with less than six minutes remaining, as Okongwu brought his points total to 30.

The Hawks stayed within a couple possessions late, but Chris Paul made a three-pointer to make it 123-116 as the clock ticked below three minutes. De’Andre Hunter scored five straight points to bring it within two.

Trailing by two, Young tied the game up with a floater and left 8.1 seconds on the clock. With a chance to win the game, On the other end, Okongwu fouled Wembanyama and sent him to the free throw line. Snyder attempted to challenge the play, and lost their final timeout. Wembanyama intentionally missed the free throw and Young missed a heave as the potential game winner.