Five observations from the Hawks’ 107-94 loss to the Thunder

The Thunder (14-8) won their third straight overall and fifth in a row at home.

Here are the key players and five observations on the game:

Three key players

Kevin Durant: The Thunder star had a triple-double of 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Serge Ibaka: The Thunder forward finished with a game-high 23 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Kent Bazemore: The Hawks forward had a team-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers.

Five observations

1. Out of gas

On the second night of back-to-back games, the Hawks fell behind by 17 points to the Thunder after a hard-fought win at the Mavericks. The Hawks nearly erased the substantial deficit, getting as close as one point in the third quarter. However, the Thunder earned back a double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter and left the Hawks on the losing end. Paul Millsap and Al Horford struggled as they combined for just 16 points on 5 of 19 shooting.

2. Hawks catch fire in third

The Hawks trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half – and nearly erased the entire deficit in the third quarter. The Hawks went on an 18-4 run to pull within a point, 70-69, with 5:09 left in the quarter. The Hawks ended the run with four straight 3-pointers – two by Kyle Korver, one by Jeff Teague and one by Horford. The Hawks also trailed by just a point, 76-75 with 2:42 left. The Thunder got back an eight-point advantage by ending the period on a 7-0 run.

3. Baze off the bench

Bazemore kept the Hawks in the game early. The forward came off the bench and had a perfect first half. He was 6 of 6 from the field, 4 of 4 from 3-point range and 2 of 2 from the free-throw line for 18 points.

4. Checking Durant

The Hawks again used Thabo Sefolosha to check Durant. It worked – to some degree – in the first half. While Durant had just nine points through the first two quarters, he had a season-high eight assists. Ibaka had 17 first-half points for the Thunder. It didn’t work in the second half as Durant had 14 points.

5. Thunder runs

The Hawks led 8-4 early – and very quickly trailed by nine points. The Thunder used a 13-0 first-quarter run in 3:12 to take a sizeable lead they would not relinquish. In the span, the Thunder went 6 of 7 from the field. The Hawks went 0 of 3 with two turnovers. The Thunder would push their advantage to 11 points in the opening period.

The Hawks fought back from their double-digit deficit and got as close as six points midway through the second quarter. The Thunder answered with an 11-0 run. The Hawks found themselves on the wrong end of a 17-point deficit. In a 4:11 run, the Thunder were 4 of 9 and the Hawks were 0 of 6 with two turnovers.