2024 Summer League: E.J. Liddell leads with 22 points as Hawks fall short to Spurs 79-76

Scrappy fight in a loss.

The Summer League Hawks were back in action for their second game in Las Vegas against the San Antonio Spurs.

The first quarter was a struggle offensively for the SL Hawks, as they had several sloppy turnovers and couldn’t get many shots to fall. Dylan Windler was a bright spot in the quarter, knocking down two three-pointers and helping the SL Hawks stay in the game.

Down the stretch of the quarter, the SL Hawks started getting into a rhythm on both sides of the ball and went on a mini-run, trailing 21-17 going into the second quarter.

To start the second, Mouhamed Gueye came out and knocked down two three-pointers himself tying the game.

It was much quieter for the Hawks 2024 draft picks this game then it was in their SL debut. Zaccharie Risacher couldn’t get a few of his three-pointers to fall, but he did other things to impact the game on both sides of the ball.

Nikola Djurisic was ruled out for the rest of the game in the first half with a foot injury.

The SL Hawks kept it neck-and-neck with the Spurs in the first half, and they went into halftime with a one-point lead.

Rob Baker II had back-to-back three-pointers in the third quarter, and the SL Hawks defense was flying around as they went back and forth with the SL Spurs. Jarkel Joiner had the highlight of the quarter locking up Jamaree Bouyea on defense and then getting a layup on the other end. Going into the fourth quarter, the SL Hawks trailed 56-55.

Both teams scratched and clawed to try and pull away with the game, but it went down to the final minute to decide the winner. Neither team shot the three well, so they did much of their work in the paint. The SL Spurs came out on top in the end, knocking down a few shots to seal the game.

E.J. Liddell finished the game with 22 points, Baker finished with 13 points, and Risacher finished with 11 points.