The Atlanta Hawks occasionally run into stumbling blocks while trying to complete their slow climb toward .500.
One of those was a disastrous third quarter at home against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. The Hawks will attempt to bounce back from a rough showing when they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.
The Hawks (32-35) are 10-8 since dropping eight straight from Jan. 20-Feb. 1. Before Friday’s 121-98 rout by the Clippers, they had won at least four straight games for the third time this season.
Atlanta was outscored 35-8 in the third period on Friday. The Hawks hit 4 of 23 shots from the field, missed all eight 3-point attempts, and allowed 12 points off eight turnovers.
“It was the perfect storm,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said after his team gave up a 15-2 run to end the third. “We had some open looks from 3, some wide open. We had the ball at the rim and had some layups that danced around the rim and didn’t go in. When that’s happening, you can’t turn the ball over.
Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu scored 18 points and Trae Young added 17, but Young shot 6 of 18 from the floor and was 2 of 12 in the final three quarters.
“Whatever mindset you have, you hold on to it or you forget about it,” Young said. “I don’t really care how anyone handles it, as long as they’re ready to play against Brooklyn, like I know I will. Everything is fine.”
The Nets (22-45) are 1-10 over their past 11 games after winning seven of nine in their best stretch of the season.
Brooklyn’s past five losses — to the Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics — are by a combined 18 points. Unlike the first four defeats when the Nets blew double-digit leads by massively struggling in the first half, they nearly erased an 11-point deficit in the final 2:44 of Saturday’s 115-113 home loss to the Celtics when they trailed by 21 in the first half.
The Nets will play the rest of the season without their leading scorer, Cam Thomas, who injured his hamstring for the third time in 2024-25. Without Thomas, Cameron Johnson scored 23 points and Keon Johnson added 21.
Cameron Johnson scored 11 in the fourth quarter and is coming off his second 20-point game in Brooklyn’s slide. Keon Johnson had his best game since scoring 25 in a 17-point loss to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 5.
“I can tell these guys that I’m truly proud of the way they played,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez said. “There’s no moral victories here, but if that’s gonna be our identity, a lot of good things are gonna happen.”
The Nets will get Nic Claxton back to their starting lineup after resting him, and they likely will keep getting extended looks at Maxwell Lewis, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in December for Dorian Finney-Smith. Lewis scored a career-high 15 points while playing 16 minutes off the bench.
