CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Hawks had a chance to maintain their hold on the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference standings before they broke for All-Star festivities. But the Hawks fell to the Hornets in the final seconds of Wednesday’s action, 110-107 at Spectrum Center.
The Hawks had cut their deficit to one, nearly erasing an 11-point lead for the Hornets in the fourth quarter.
But the Hawks turned the ball over with 28.7 seconds to play, and they had to foul Kon Knueppel to try and save some clock. Knueppel’s free throws gave the Hornets just enough breathing room.
In an attempt to get a shot off against an unset defense on their final possession, the Hawks took the ball and went. The ball rotated to Onyeka Okongwu, who took a contested 3 with a little over two seconds left on the shot clock.
Hornets forward Brandon Miller blocked the shot, leaving it short. The buzzer sounded before veteran CJ McCollum could attempt the second-chance jumper.
The Hawks dropped to 1-3 in the season series against the Hornets.
Quick stats: Jalen Johnson had 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Dyson Daniels had 21 points. McCollum had 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists off the bench.
Key moment
The Hawks trailed the Hornets 108-100 with 2:30 to play in the game. The Hawks played strong defense for 22 seconds before Hornets forward Grant Williams caught a pass at the top of the key and sent up a prayer.
The officials called McCollum for a foul, and the Hawks successfully challenged the call, and officials called a jump ball. It saved them from three free throws from Williams.
But then the Hawks fell asleep on the jump ball, and Williams won possession and went for a layup. Nickeil Alexander-Walker chased Williams down and blocked him from behind. Officials whistled Alexander-Walker for a foul.
The Hawks challenged the call, their second in three seconds of game time, and again won the challenge. It sparked a 6-0 run that cut the Hawks’ deficit to 108-107.
Highlight play
The Hawks needed a big play as they clawed their way back into the game. After not playing the entire first half, forward Mouhamed Gueye came in and gave the Hawks some much-needed shooting.
Gueye hit a 3 from the corner in front of the Hornets bench with 10:49 to play in the game that brought the Hawks within 11. Then he hit another with 9:23 to play that gave the Hawks their smallest deficit since 2:10 remained in the first half.
What they said
“We just had a lot of breakdowns on defense, miscommunications. They were running guard-guard, pick-and-rolls all game, and we just couldn’t figure out a way to... Like, our communication was really bad tonight, so we dug ourselves too deep of a hole, and we fought back. But we can’t keep doing that to ourselves.” - Daniels on the Hornets breaking the game open in the second quarter.
“They got offensive rebounds. So that hurts. They scored in transition. I think in early in the game, they got it however they wanted it. I think we had more resistance in the second half, and we had a six-minute stretch or seven-minute stretch where we only go, you know, eight to 10 points, which is how we have to defend throughout the entire game.” - McCollum on the Hornets’ early run and the Hawks’ comeback.
“Really, just what he did. He throws himself into the game, defensively and on the boards, and that’s something really it’s a good thing for our whole team to understand. And I think when he does that, the basket gets bigger, you’re just being instinctive.” - Hawks coach Quin Snyder in Gueye’s injection of energy in the second half.
Up next
The Hawks will be off for the NBA All-Star break. They return to action Feb. 19 against the 76ers in Philadelphia.
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