Third quarter dooms Hawks, lose to Nuggets 139-120

Winning streak snapped.

The Atlanta Hawks were in Denver on Wednesday night to face the Nuggets. The Hawks come into the new year still on their two-week road trip, and tonight they had to face one of the best players in the league, Nikola Jokic.

The last time these two teams played the Nuggets put on a dominant performance, and Jokic finished with 48 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists. Jalen Johnson didn’t playing in that game, and he was also ruled out of this game with right shoulder soreness. The Hawks were already short in the frontcourt with Larry Nance Jr. out indefinitely, so it was going to be a tall task for them in Denver.

Trae Young got it going in the first quarter, scoring eight points, which included this three-pointer.

Zaccharie Risacher was able to get in the paint with this second effort.

Jokic did what he’s been doing all season, putting his imprint on the entire game, and had 11 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in the quarter, leading the Nuggets to 40 points. The Hawks were able to stay close going into the second quarter, trailing just by seven.

De’Andre Hunter continued his hot scoring off the bench with this three-pointer in the second.

Vit Krejci got it going from three in the second quarter and helped the Hawks get the lead at one point.

Hunter got this contest mid-range shot to go with the shot clock running down.

Once Jokic came in the game for the Nuggets he was able to stabilize their offense which helped them get the lead back. The Hawks could have went into halftime down one point, but Young missed two of his free throws and went in the locker room trailing 74-71.

Young started the second half with this patented floater.

The Hawks went cold for a few minutes, and the Nuggets went on a 14-4 run to get their biggest lead of the game. Things didn’t get better as the quarter went on, as the Hawks were still not able to get anything going, and the Nuggets’ lead increased to as large as 26 points.

Young was able to hit back-to-back threes late in the third to bring the Hawks deficit down to 20 points.

Garrison Mathews started the fourth quarter with this three-pointer to continue to cut into the Hawks lead.

From there, the Nuggets had an answer, plus more, and once again extended their lead, and the Hawks weren’t able to get back into the game. The Hawks took it on the chin in this one, 139-120.

Young finished the game with 30 points and nine assists, Hunter finished with 20 points, and Krejci finished with 14 points.

The Hawks will be back in action on Friday to take on the Los Angeles Lakers.