Turnovers haunt Hawks in 114-110 loss to Trail Blazers

Yuck.

The Atlanta Hawks were in Portland on Sunday evening to take on the Trail Blazers in the first game of their West Coast road trip.

The Hawks are getting good news on the injury front, as Vit Krejci was available for the first time since the beginning of the season. De’Andre Hunter was out this game, but he’ll most likely play tomorrow against the Sacramento Kings tomorrow.

The Hawks got out to fast start against the Trail Blazers, playing good defense and converting on most of their shots. They looked to get into transition to start, and Zaccharie Risacher got this easy bucket.

Dyson Daniels continued his strong play on offense, and he got a few shots to go in just a matter of a minute.

Risacher got out into transition again with this backward Trae Young alley-oop, giving the Hawks a 25-9 lead. The Trail Blazers battled back after the Hawks’ offensive flurry but weren’t able to gain much ground. Going into the second, quarter, the Hawks led 33-21.

The Hawks started the second quarter putting pressure on the rim, as Onyeka Okongwu found Jalen Johnson in the paint.

The Hawks had a comfortable lead throughout the quarter, but the Trail Blazers began to creep up late. Offensively, the Hawks cooled down while the Trail Blazers started to get into a groove on that side of the ball. In the final minute, the Hawks got back-to-back three-pointers to fall and extended their lead, and they were able to go into halftime up 64-56.

The Trail Blazers started the quarter on a mini-run, but the Hawks once again had an answer, extending their lead. It was midway through the quarter when the Trail Blazers completely turned on the switch and scored 17 straight points, eventually taking the lead. One of the main issues for the Hawks was turnovers, as they had 22 through three quarters.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed the Blazers 94-81.

The Hawks scrapped throughout the fourth to get back into the game, and a 10-0 run got them within three points until Portland called a timeout. Jalen Johnson was able to get going during the run with this layup.

Later on, Trae Young found Onyeka Okongwu on this behind-the-back pass in the paint.

Young then tied the game with this three-pointer.

Over a minute later, Young gave the Hawks the lead with another three-pointer.

The Trail Blazers took the lead back with 1:02 remaining in the game and extended it to three points at the free-throw line with 18.2 seconds left after the Hawks turned the ball over.

After a missed free throw, the Hawks had a chance with 9.2 seconds left to tie the game or win the game, but Young turned the ball over.

Young finished the game with 29 points and eight assists, Johnson finished with 25 points, and Daniels finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

The Hawks will be back in action tomorrow against the Sacramento Kings.