Hawks Lose Wild One to Thunder on Westbrook Game-Winner

With leading scorer and current MVP Dennis Schröder out with an ankle injury, the Atlanta Hawks came into Chesapeake Energy Arena thoroughly depleted against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This game was not to be a cakewalk for the home team, however, as the undermanned Hawks battled back on multiple occasions to force a game-winning, miracle shot from Russell Westbrook with 1.7 left on the clock to seal the game. A heave from John Collins at the buzzer clattered off the backboard as time expired, and that was it.

What entailed was a scintillating tilt – the two teams combined for 74 points in the final quarter – and a surprisingly winnable game on the road for the Hawks. In the end, some sketchy officiating and, more importantly, 23 second chance points for the Thunder downed Atlanta on this night.

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Steven Adams had a monster game for the Thunder, finishing with an immense 7 offensive rebounds (10 total rebounds) and 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Adams was a menacing presence inside, vacuuming up rebounds and finishing lobs and putbacks with authority in his 33 minutes.

Not to make excuses, but there were a few missed calls against the Thunder on this night. Most egregious was a glaring push-off from Russell Westbrook against Malcolm Delaney (who had a career night, more on him later) in which Brodie karate chopped Delaney in the throat and drilled a jumper while Delaney was on the ground.

Two more blown calls were on three-point attempts in the 4^th quarter. Delaney drilled a three-pointer and was wiped out by a defender, but no call was made by an official. Then, a few plays later, Ersan Ilyasova hit a clutch corner three and was knocked down by Steven Adams on the Zaza Pachulia play (the move that was banned in the offseason) in which Adams kind of shuffled underneath Ersan as he was landing – a clear four-point play opportunity.

The officials reviewed it and no such call was made – definitely an oversight.

With Schröder out, Kent Bazemore got the start at point guard and had massive defensive assignments on this night in his 26 minutes, matching up against the star-studded guards and wings of the Thunder.

Baze had a few stellar plays down the stretch, most notably literally jamming a one-handed spike on Patrick Patterson’s head in the 4^th quarter to take the Hawks’ first lead of the game since they were up 13-12 in the game’s first minutes.

Marco Belinelli  got his first start of the season and predictably showed out to the tune of a season-high 27 points on 10 of 18 shooting, including 5 of 10 from downtown, with 5 assists.

The Hawks’ Sixth Man was feeling it, (finishing with a +2 box plus/minus) and his steady shooting and constant offensive activity kept the Hawks in this game throughout.

After being lost in the rotation recently, Malcolm Delaney exploded on this night for a career-high 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including a stellar 4 of 6 from downtown. Not only did Delaney impress with his scoring, but he was affecting the game in myriad other areas – notching a team-high 6 assists with 2 rebounds, 1 steal and a team-high +8 BPM.

Delaney rose to the occasion of guarding Russell Westbrook one-on-one and Russ’s violent playstyle only upped Delaney’s intensity exponentially, as he matched Brodie’s loud ebullience with cold, calculated shotmaking and some suffocating defensive intensity on the reigning MVP.

This was a promising game for Delaney, especially after only getting sporadic minutes for the past month. He definitely played better than DeAndre’ Bembry, who continues to struggle with his ballhandling, passing and finishing.

John Collins had another superb performance with some trademark highlight-reel dunks. Encouragingly, many of these dunks came in traffic surrounded by thickets of stellar Thunder defenders, including threatening shot blockers like Steven Adams and Andre Roberson.

John the Baptist finished with 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting, his only miss coming on a half-court heave as time expired. JC also notched 9 rebounds (4 offensive boards), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and only 1 foul.

Collins has curtailed his fouling after leading the entire league at one point early this season. He is making good decisions with the ball, and his finishing is getting better each game, such as on this wonderful putback slam:

Tyler Cavanaugh played 18 minutes in this game, coming off the bench early to spell starter Miles Plumlee. TC had not played in the past three games for the Hawks after playing in 19 straight to start his career, and there was some mild rust for Cavanaugh in this game as his three-point stroke did not look good (going 0 for 3 from downtown).

Cavanaugh’s stretch four capacity and nose for the basketball make him a solid contributor, so he should never fall too far out of the rotation.

Despite a heartbreaking game-winner from one of the best players in the world, this was a stellar team game for the Hawks, and one they can build upon going forward.

The Hawks return home tomorrow to face the Dallas Mavericks at Phillips Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. EST.