Hawks punch back but still succumb to Kings, 123-115

A good fight but just didn’t have the bodies.

The Hawks came into this game severely shorthanded, with the same available players as they had in the previous game against the Wizards. One wrinkle was inserting Larry Nance Jr. into the starting lineup at the four and bumping Jalen Johnson up to the three for some added size.

Zaccharie Risacher, in his fourth consecutive start, hit his first shot from the corner.

The Hawks’ jumbo lineup, however, posed some immediate spacing problems and their offense couldn’t get off the ground to begin the game. The Kings hit them with some transition triples and jumped out to a 12-5 lead, forcing head coach Quin Snyder to call timeout.

The Hawks recovered a bit and narrow the margin, hitting on some nice rolls and oops at the rim.

After one quarter, the Kings led 33-26.

Sacramento, however, just had more firepower between De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan and others, and they turned up the heat in the second quarter. The Kings were able to get downhill and kick to three-point shooters when necessary, and Sacramento was able to build as much as a 17-point lead in the second quarter.

Towards the end of the half, however, the Hawks went on a 9-0 run to pull to within 56-53. Keaton Wallace and Trae Young combined on this highlight to excite the home crowd.

Atlanta let off the gas to end the half, however, and found themselves down 69-59 at the break.

The Hawks continued to struggle to get stops with the depleted nature of their roster. The Kings put up 19 points within the first four minutes of the third quarter to bust the game wide open. After facing an 18-point lead, the Hawks finally punched back. Garrison Mathews’ hot shooting was a big reason for the mini comeback.

But the Kings, and especially DeRozan from mid-range, were just too clinical. Sacramento barely blinked and pushed the lead back to 12 by the close of the quarter, 102-90.

Early in the fourth, the Hawks hung around, but largely traded buckets with Sacramento. But yet another Mathews three sparked a 9-0 run to bring the Hawks to within just two points halfway through the period.

The Hawks were finally finding more and more space to work offensively, and they truly were nipping at the heels of the visitors for the first time since the first quarter. After tying the game for the first time since the opening minute of the game, the Kings went on a 6-0 run to make it 115-109.

Mathews hit his career-high seventh three late in the fourth quarter to cap off his strong performance.

Atlanta made it a fairly exciting contest down the stretch, but could never bring the game to within three points with possession of the ball. Sacramento held on to win, 123-115.

Mathews finished with 23 points off 8-for-15 shooting from the floor and 7-for-13 shooting from three. Trae Young finished with 25 points and 12 assists. Keaton Wallace cashed in on a career-high scoring game with 14 big points off the bench.

Atlanta will once again try to break their losing streak against the similarly injury-ravaged New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday evening.