10/20/17 9:25pm
Instant Reaction: Hawks fall to Charlotte 91-109
Photo: @ATLHawks
Following a 117-111 victory vs Dallas on Wednesday, the Hawks continued their 5 game road trip to start off the year when they faced the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. After coming off a big win, the Hawks will look to keep the momentum going and reach a 2-0 record to start the season.
With Dennis Schroder leading the team in points with 28 and Taurean Prince leading with 8 rebounds, the team will rely on them to duplicate what they were able to do on Wednesday into tonight’s game.
With this being the 1st of 4 games between the two teams, there may be some drama as this is the 1st time Dwight Howard will face his old team as a member of the Charlotte Hornets. Earlier today multiple Hawks players were asked about the matchup with Howard and they responded with, ” We are gonna show love and not disrespect him, it should be fun. He is a really good player in the post so it will be interesting.”
As the 7pm tip-off took place, the Hawks made it evident that they wanted to start off fast and they did just that! Behind Taurean Prince and Dwayne Dedmon’s 7 and 5 points respectably, Atlanta was able to build a 10 point lead after the 1st quarter with offensive rebounds and quality shots. The deciding factor in the quarter would be the 8 turnovers by Charlotte. (Atlanta 28 Charlotte 18)
The 2nd quarter began and it was more of the same, the Hawks defense not only caused 7 more turnovers but held Charlotte to a lot of really bad shots. Atlanta was able to open up the lead to 20 after going on a 9-0 run to start the 2nd, but Charlotte responded with Frank Kaminsky’s 15 points and the Hawks went into the half with the lead behind Dennis Schroder’s 11 points and Ersan Illyasova’s 3 rebounds. (Atlanta 55 Charlotte 49)
As the 3rd quarter got underway, Charlotte showed their hand and began throwing up multiple 3 pointers in hopes of cutting into the Hawks lead. Following Atlanta’s offense going ice cold, Charlotte went on a 24-0 run and ran out to a huge 69-83 lead. With 1 minute left in the 3rd quarter, Atlanta was able to score 4 points and make the deficit reasonable. Hawks leaders: Dennis Schroder 19 points and Taurean Prince 5 rebounds (Atlanta 73 Charlotte 84)
Knowing they had to come back from a 11 point deficit, the Hawks went full court pressure but were unable to stop Kemba Walker and his hot hand. After a horrible 3rd quarter for Atlanta, they fell too far behind and couldn’t mount a comeback and fell to the Charlotte Hornets 91-109.
The Hawks now 1-1 on the season, travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Sunday at 3:30pm.
Notable Performances:
Dennis Schroder: 11-21 25 points, 5 assists
Taurean Prince: 6-13 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
#TruetoAtlanta
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