The Hawks had little sympathy for the injury-plagued Trail Blazers.
The Hawks led by as many as 21 points in a 106-97 victory Monday night at Philips Arena. The win was the fourth in a row for the Hawks (18-12) and their third consecutively against the Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers (11-19) dropped their fourth in a row, all on a five-game trip. They played without their starting backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, their two leaders in points and assists.
“Offensively, it’s going to be a challenge,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said before the game.
It was.
The Trail Blazers scored the first five points of the game and never led after the Hawks overcame their initial burst. They made a fourth-quarter run to close much of their deficit.
Here are the key players and five observations on the game:
Three key players
Dennis Schroder: The reserve point guard scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
Jeff Teague: The starting point guard overcame a slow start, missing his first five shots, including four 3-pointers, to finish with 13 points and eight assists.
Allen Crabbe: The Trail Blazers guard got the emergency start and scored a game-high 19 points.
Five observations
1. Strong bench
The Hawks got solid play from their bench for the second consecutive game. In addition to Schroder, Thabo Sefolosha and Mike Scott each finished with 13 points. The three were the highest-scoring Hawks for the game. In all, the bench combined for 56 points.
2. Millsap ankle, Schroder tooth
Paul Millsap had to leave the game in the third quarter when he injured his left ankle. He went out of the game at the 10:35 mark and returned with 3:03 remaining in the period. Early in the fourth quarter, Schroder took a shot to the mouth from a Meyers Leonard knee and had the veneer of a tooth knocked out. Schroder picked up piece and put it in his sock for (apparent) safe keeping. He never left the game.
3. Strong half for Sefolosha
Thabo Sefolosha had a strong first half for the Hawks off the bench. He finished with 10 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in 14 minutes. He was a plus-17 in the half. His assist was a pretty no-look pass to a running Kent Bazemore for a dunk.
4. Getting separation
The Hawks took a 26-17 lead after the first quarter by shooting 47.4 percent (9 of 19) from the floor. They did so despite a 1 of 6 start to the game. The Hawks grabbed a 10-point lead in the second quarter but watched as it nearly disappeared when the Blazers when on a 9-0 run. They got as close as 40-39 before the Hawks ended the quarter on a 15-4 run for a 12-point cushion at intermission (55-43). The lead was 19 after a Schroder buzzer-beating heave at the end of the third quarter.
5. Marathon man
The Blazers were so short-handed in the backcourt that Stotts joked before the game that Tim Frazier might have to play the whole game. He nearly did. Frazier played all but the final 24.8 seconds in the first half. He only came out at with a stoppage in play, for Pat Connaughton, before the Hawks final possession of the second quarter. Frazier had three points, three rebounds, two assist and three fouls by the break. He played the entire second half for a total of 47 minutes.
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