Hawks fall short to Pistons after late-game heroics from Johnson, NAW

“Tonight to come out, it was a team that was doing what Detroit is doing this year and eating up our Conference. For our guys to play through what was a really physical game, Jalen (Johnson) in particular, to have the first half he had. He just had great poise, wasn’t any part of him that was frustrated. We didn’t get discouraged, and that to me is as much as anything, just, what we take from this game.”

Quick stats: Hawks forward Jalen Johnson finished the night with 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists after scoring just four points in the first half. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 26 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3. Onyeka Okongwu, who had led the team in scoring for the first half with 18 points, finished with 20 points and six rebounds.

Turning point

The Hawks had recovered from a 9-0 run from the Pistons at the end of the third quarter, thanks to an 18-6 run fueled by heroics from Alexander-Walker. He scored eight straight points in one minute off a 3-pointer assisted by Johnson, a fadeaway midrange jumper and then a 3 in transition.

But the Pistons then scored 11 straight points to take a 94-89 lead with 2:37 to play.

While the Hawks found a spark with Johnson hitting a running, fast-break 3, then another from Alexander-Walker minutes later, the Hawks missed a couple of big baskets that allowed the Pistons to go up 99-95.

The Hawks kept fighting, and Alexander-Walker hit a late 3 that cut their deficit to 99-98. Though they played the foul battle and won, the Hawks missed a tip-in off an inbound pass from Luke Kennard with .1 seconds left on the clock.

Highlight play

The Hawks felt the effects of playing two overtime periods on the second night of back-to-back games. But they still made plays to keep the game close.

With 5:39 to play in the third quarter, Johnson drove into the paint on Pistons forward Ron Holland before hitting a Euro-step. Johnson drew a foul that tied the game at 61 after the converted free throw.

What they said

“Honestly, I just needed to wake up. That’s all it was. I just needed to up my energy. I needed to. I know my team needed more for me. So, I mean, that was just a mindset in the second half. I wasn’t aggressive enough. I don’t think in the first half and second half, I just really just try to be more aggressive and insert myself on the offensive end.” -- Johnson on the difference between his first and second half performances.

“I feel like, as much as we fought to make it a game, I feel like we hurt ourselves and put ourselves in positions to have to fight. And that starts with me. I feel like towards the end I had, like a blocked shot, missed shot, maybe I could have drove, kind of heat check type thing. I wish I had that one back and rebounded.” -- Alexander-Walker on the Hawks ability to fight through adversity.

“We’re really gonna grind. We’re always gonna play hard. We’re not going to make two excuses for ourselves.” -- Okongwu on the Hawks playing hard on the second night of back-to-back games.

Up next

The Hawks return home on Wednesday, where they host the Clippers and former teammates Bogdan Bogdanovic and John Collins at State Farm Arena.