Hawks fall 90-82 in final game of winless summer

A summer to forget.

Atlanta came into Saturday with their last chance to impress this summer. After four losses all by six points on less, the team was itching to leave Las Vegas with at least one win in hand. In their way, however, stood the New York Knicks.

Early in this contest, the Hawks were clicking on offense with ball movement and three-pointer raining from everywhere.

They quickly jumped out to a 13-2 lead and didn’t let up. That energy didn’t wane on the defensive end of the floor, either, as they showcased a much better start than that of the Bulls game 24 hours ago.

Chicago was able to cut into the lead when both benches came in, however, and Atlanta only held a 21-18 lead after the first quarter.

Atlanta went through a serious drought from the field, going eight minutes between makes from the floor between the first and second quarters. Slowly, the Knicks were able to mount a 33-26 lead a little before halfway through the second period.

Once the starters returned, the Hawks were slowly able to regain footing. Keaton Wallace, recently signed to a two-way contract, offered some spark plug moments like the one below.

At halftime, the Hawks trailed 43-38.

The Hawks came out hot offensively in the second half, but they couldn’t get many if any stops the other way.

Still the flurry from three was fun to witness.

Nevertheless, New York pushed the lead to 40-30 by the five minutes mark of the third quarter. Atlanta continued to trade buckets with the Knicks, keeping right at 10 points behind New York.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed by seven and needed a big late push to not go 0-5 during their two weeks in the deserts of Nevada.

The fourth quarter had scatter bits of hectic play from both teams, but eventually the Hawks knifed into the lead to make the final minutes exciting. A Wallace long two (eventually reviewed and made a three) made it a 3-point game at 80-77 with four minutes remaining.

Down five points with under a minute remaining, a Dylan Windler sideline lob went arwy, and the Knicks came down, ran clock, and buried a pull up three to effectively end the contest.

Atlanta fell 90-82 and finished 0-5 in the 2024 Las Vegas Summer League.

Keaton Wallace ended with an impressive performance, managing 23 points, nine assists, and six rebound. We now turn to the offseason and await preseason basketball in October.