PHOENIX -- The Hawks looked to cap off their visit on the West Coast with a strong outing against the Suns at the Footprint Center Thursday night. But the Suns handed them a 128-115 loss at the end of their 11-day, five-game road trip.
Here are five observations:
1. With the Hawks shorthanded, they needed a big night from everyone. They got one from guard Dejounte Murray, who fired off 10 straight points in the opening quarter to get the Hawks out to an 11-point lead.
It’s the 50th straight game that Murray has put up double-digit scoring, for the second-longest streak of his career and tied for the 15th-longest active run in the NBA.
He gave the Hawks everything on both ends of the floor as he tried to propel them over the Suns, who were on the second night of back-to-back games. Murray scored 29 points, had nine rebounds, 10 assists and four steals.
Murray moved the ball well, getting the Hawks to their spots, while also picking his own. He capitalized on opportunities where he could draw multiple Suns defenders.
In the last five games, he has averaged 26 points, 3.6 rebounds, 8.6 assists and two steals.
2. The Hawks have dealt with plenty of injuries this season and the latest bout continued to show their lack of depth past their first eight players. When Murray went to the Hawks bench with 2:54 to play in the first quarter, they had an 11-point lead.
But it quickly evaporated during the early bench minutes, with the Suns reserves outscoring the Hawks’ 9-2 in the first few minutes. The Suns, led by Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, tied the game with 9:56 to play in the second quarter. They also held the Hawks to just six points in the first six minutes.
Though the Hawks’ bench gave them some stronger minutes in the third quarter, they didn’t give them enough offense to develop a lead by the end of the third.
3. It also did not help that the Suns shot lights out through the first three quarters.
Then Suns guard Eric Gordon opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back shots from long distance that pushed them up to 53.3% shooting from three. It started off a 16-5 run, with the Suns not missing a jumper from deep in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. They went 5-of-5 from 3, extending themselves out to a 112-98 lead.
Four different players in Suns uniforms ended the night with multiple triples, as they went on to shoot 22-of-41 from deep, including a couple of daggers from Booker.
4. The Hawks did not have much production off the bench after they bumped De’Andre Hunter into the starting lineup. They needed him in the starting five with Jalen Johnson out for at least one week with a right sprained ankle.
Hunter often provided the Hawks instant scoring off the bench, where he averaged 16 points, on 49.1% shooting from the floor and 40% shooting from 3.
He has thrived from reading the flow of the game from the bench and missed that on Thursday, shooting just 38% overall. But he knocked down 42% of his shots from three, with a few timely jumpers.
5. Despite the loss, the Hawks continued to have a firm hold on the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference after the Bulls and Nets lost their games.
Stat to know
450 - Bogdan Bogdanovic has 450 career steals. He is one of three players from the 2014 NBA draft class with 450 steals and 1,000 3-pointers in his career (along with Jordan Clarkson and Zach LaVine).
Up next
The Hawks return home to State Farm Arena for a five-game homestand. They host the Hornets on Sunday.
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