Hawks can’t complete last-minute comeback, lose to Trail Blazers 106-102

The Atlanta Hawks were in Portland on Wednesday night to face the Trail Blazers.

With the Hawks down several bodies, it was going to be next man up for this game and the foreseeable future. That means that Dejounte Murray was going to have to lead the Hawks once again, and that’s what he did early in the first quarter with seven points.

The Trail Blazers got back into the game, but the Hawks were able to build their lead back late in the first quarter, leading 24-17 heading into the second. Bruno Fernando came on and made an immediate impact on both sides of the ball, including this big block to start the second.

Murray started cooking from behind the three-point line and got into the paint with ease as well.

Murray continued to carry the Hawks through the half and scored 24 points. The Hawks went into halftime leading the Trail Blazers 52-47.

The Trail Blazers came out in the second half and put more pressure on the Hawks, tying the game and eventually taking the lead. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the same shots they were taking in the first half were not falling. At one point the Blazers went on a 19-4 run to lead the Hawks by nine points.

Garrison Matthews came into the game and stopped the bleeding for the Hawks with this three-pointer.

Vit Krejci hit this three that fell right into his hands with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Going into the fourth the Hawks trailed the Blazers 82-75. Murray tried his best to bring the Hawks back into game, doing it on both sides of the ball.

De’Andre Hunter got this nice pass from Bogdan Bogdanovic for an easy shot in the paint.

With less than two minutes remaining the Hawks trailed the Blazers 101-95. The Hawks quickly scored two baskets in a row, cutting their deficit to two points. With a chance to tie the game, the Hawks were not able to convert, and Anfernee Simons went to the free throw line knocking down two free throws to give the Blazers a 103-99 lead with 22.9 seconds left.

Murray came down after a timeout and pulled up for a three with 17.6 seconds left to cut the Blazers lead down to one point. Deandre Ayton was fouled and went to the free throw line and knocked down one free throw, but missed the second one. The Hawks were not able to grab the rebound, and the Blazers were able to take more time off the clock. That led Simons back to the free-throw line, and he extended their lead to four points with 3.8 seconds, ultimately ending the game,

Murray finished with 40 points, Clint Capela finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Hunter finished with 11 points.

The Hawks will be back in action on Friday night to face the Utah Jazz.