The Hawks, the ones still standing, did what they could.
Playing without four of their five leading scorers, including Al Horford and Josh Smith, the Hawks stayed right with the Spurs until the final second. In the end the Western Conference power was too much for the depleted Hawks en route to 99-97 victory Saturday night at the AT&T Center.
The Hawks rotated eight healthy bodies and pulled to within four points several times in the fourth quarter of a game they trailed by as many as 13 points. It became very interesting when Dahntay Jones was fouled in the backcourt, after a steal, and was awarded three free throws with a second remaining of a 99-95 game. He made the first two free throws but the Spurs came up with the rebound of an intentional miss to end the game.
“I would call this a mountain to climb,” coach Larry Drew said. “We’ve never had this situation before where we’ve been missing this many starters or key contributors off the bench on the same night. It shows me that this group can persevere. Yes, we lost the game but we are going to take something from it. As a coach what I’m taking is that this group is highly, highly capable even minus key players.”
The Hawks (42-36) lost their third straight game. It was the fifth straight loss to the Spurs and 15th consecutive defeat in San Antonio.
With four games remaining in the regular season, two each at home and on the road, the Hawks remain sixth in the Eastern Conference. It’s looking more like a first-round playoff matchup against the Pacers.
The Spurs (57-20) won for the second time in the past five games. They were also playing short-handed without Tony Parker (sore neck) and Manu Ginobili (strained right hamstring).
Rookies John Jenkins and Mike Scott get a lot of credit in the Hawks’ effort as each had career-best scoring efforts. Jenkins finished with 23 points and Scott had 22 points.
“I knew we were going to play hard regardless,” Jenkins said. “Against OKC early in the year we were depleted and we won that game. (Against) L.A. a few weeks ago, and we won that game. I knew we were going to come out with a fight.”
Jenkins was 7 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range. Scott was 8 of 15 and had six rebounds.
“I was just being active,” Scott said. “I still think I have to rebound better. Just being active and playing with energy.”
The Hawks also got 11 points and a career-best tying 15 rebounds from Johan Petro. Ivan Johnson (14) and Shelvin Mack (12) rounded out the double-digit scorers.
Tim Duncan led the Spurs with a game-high 31 points with 14 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard added 23 points.
Of the dramatic final second, the Hawks were hoping for a tip-in off Jones’ miss.
“Get a screen and get a tip-in,” Jones said. “It’s hard to try and miss. It was a weird situation.”
The Spurs took a 51-40 halftime lead with a strong second quarter. The Spurs broke open a close game with a 20-8 run to lead by 13 points, 49-36. Duncan scored 14 of his 18 first-half points in the quarter, including a run of eight straight.
By the intermission, the Hawks were shooting a woeful 29.5 percent (13 of 44) from the field. Jenkins (10) points and Scott (8) combined to score 18 of the Hawks’ 20 second-quarter points.
The Hawks trailed 21-20 after one quarter and took a brief lead on a Scott basket to open the second. It was the last lead the Hawks would have as Duncan and Company made their run.
The Hawks started the third quarter on an 11-3 run to pull within three points. However, the Spurs answered with 10-2 run to regain control. Back came the Hawks with another run and entered the final quarter down 73-69 with the help of a pair of 3-pointers from Mack.
“My guys did a good job of competing at a high level,” Drew said. “When you get in these situations the easiest thing to do is not to come out and compete and feel sorry for yourselves. But this group did not do that. They had no quit in them. They competed from start to finish. … These type situations are not the easiest but it just shows you what type of pros you have.”
The Hawks are off until a matchup at the 76ers Wednesday.
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