Neither a starting lineup change nor the return of Paul Millsap made a difference in the final result.
The Hawks lost again.
The plummet continues.
The Hawks dropped a 102-99 decision to the Thunder Monday night at Philips Arena. The Hawks have now lost seven straight and 10 of their last 11 games. The Hawks did give a much more spirited effort than their previous two losses by a combined 80 points.
Millsap returned after missing three straight games with a sore left hip. Coach Mike Budenholzer tried to shake up the slumping team by inserting Thabo Sefolosha for Kyle Korver in the starting lineup.
Russell Westbrook recorded his sixth consecutive triple-double with a strong second half and finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
The Hawks (10-12) were led by Millsap with 24 points in his return. Dennis Schroder had 17 points and Korver finished with 15 points off the bench.
The Thunder (14-8) won their sixth straight game to coincide with the Westbrook triple-double streak. Steven Adams had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Thunder took a 15-point third-quarter lead. The Hawks made a spirited comeback and closed to within three points midway through the fourth quarter. However, Westbrook scored seven straight points as part of a 10-4 Thunder run that pushed their lead back to nine points, 100-91, with three minutes remaining.
The Hawks again closed to within three points with the ball with 10 seconds remaining but Tim Hardaway Jr., after bobbling a pass, failed to get off a clean shot for the final margin.
