Vitsanity: Hawks hold on to beat Clippers thanks to Vit Krejci’s career night

LOS ANGELES -- For just the second time in the infancy of the 2025-26 season, the Hawks have strung together a pair of consecutive wins. The Hawks opened up their first West Coast swing with a hard-fought 105-102 win over the Clippers at the Intuit Dome.

The win nearly came down to the wire after the Hawks nursed a six-point lead in the final two minutes. Clippers’ James Harden threatened to wipe the lead away after converting a four-point play.

But Vit Krejci, who had been electric from 3 all night, banked in a 3-pointer right before fouling Harden that gave the Hawks just enough breathing room.

Then, the Hawks leaned heavily on their defense and crowded the Clippers, forcing a bad pass to seal the win.

Quick Stats: Vit Krejci scored a team-high and career-high 28 points on a career-high eight 3-pointers. Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points. Jalen Johnson had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Key moment

The Hawks trailed the Clippers by as many as 17 points in the second quarter of Monday’s game. They slowly carved into it. But they needed an answer, and it came in the form of Krejci.

The 25-year-old hit a 3 with 6:51 to play in the second quarter that cut the Clippers lead to 12. Krejci hit another 27 seconds later. He then hit yet another 21 seconds later, which forced the Clippers to call a timeout.