It was almost a Super Tuesday for the Hawks.
While seven states, including Georgia, were voting in presidential primaries, the Hawks were in California and nearly pulled off an upset of the mighty Warriors.
The Hawks overcame a 14-point deficit and took the defending NBA Champions to overtime before dropping a 109-105 decision Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.
The Hawks (33-28) nearly handed the Warriors their first home loss of the season before being outscored 12-8 in the extra period. They had their two-game win streak snapped to start a five-game road trip. Al Horford led the Hawks with 19 points
The Warriors (54-5) have won six straight, including a win over the Hawks last month. Klay Thompson, playing without backcourt mate Stephen Curry, had a game-high 26 points.
Here are the key players and five observations on the game:
Three key players
Draymond Green: The Warriors forward nearly had a triple-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. He hit an off-balance, shot-clock beating, 3-point basket with 40 seconds left for a four-point lead, 107-103.
Klay Thompson: The Warriors guard scored 26 points, including six 3-pointers, minus his Splash Brother. He had five overtime points.
Dennis Schroder: The Hawks backup point guard finished with 15 points and eight assists. His missed a pair of free throws with 1:40 remaining in overtime.
Five observations
1. Schroder down the stretch
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer elected to play Schroder down the stretch, including all of the fourth quarter. Starting point guard Jeff Teague came out of the game with 5:11 to go in the third quarter, after two straight turnovers. Schroder had six fourth-quarter points in the Hawks rally.
2. Hawks make their run
Trailing by as many as 11 points late in the third quarter, the Hawks made an intial run. They scored eight straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Mike Scott and Dennis Schroder. That cut their deficit to three points, 73-70, before the Warriors’ Leonardo Barbosa ended the period with a corner shot at the buzzer. The Warriors would push their lead to eight points, 85-77, after back-to-back 3-pointers from center Marreese Speights in the fourth quarter. However, the Hawks answered with a 13-2 run to take a 90-87 lead with six minutes remaining.
3. In the blink of an eye
The Warriors get you with quick runs. Miss a couple of baskets or turn the ball over and next thing you know they are pulling away. They broke an 8-8 tie early in the first quarter with a 7-0 run. They broke a 21-21 tie with a 6-0 run minutes later to take another lead. They used a 9-0 run in the second quarter to take a 14-point lead at 56-42.
4. Points in the paint
The Warriors dominated the points in the paint statistic. They lead the category 14-4 after the first quarter and 30-14 after the second quarter. A number of the Warriors’ inside points came in transition as they broke quickly following Hawks’ shot attempts. The also caught the Hawks in defensive switches that led to layups and dunks. The Warriors had six first-half dunks, including three by Andrew Bogut. Draymond Green (7) nearly matched the Hawks (8) in first-half assists. “The transition defense and the 3-point line, they are so good in both those areas,” Budenholzer said before the game. “They are good in the half-court too. At times, if you don’t take care of the first two things, and they are married to each other, the half-court stuff becomes moot.”
5. No Curry
The Hawks caught a huge break as the Warriors were without starting point guard Stephen Curry, who happens to lead the NBA in scoring, and reserve forward Andre Iguodala. Curry leads the NBA with a 30.7 points per game average and is in the process of obliterating the league’s 3-point records. Curry scored 36 points in a win over the Hawks in Atlanta on Feb. 22. Shaun Livingston started in place of Curry and had four points and a season-high five rebounds in his six first-quarter minutes.
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