All that work for nothing.
The Hawks overcame a 13-point third quarter deficit but fell to the Grizzlies 108-101 at the FedEx Forum Sunday.
The Hawks used a 16-0 run between the third and fourth quarters to take a brief three-point lead. However, the Grizzlies re-gained the lead in the fourth, hitting some key 3-pointers, for the win. Mike Miller hit a 3-pointer with 4:01 remaining to put the Grizzlies up by eight, 98-90, with 4:01 remaining.
“It took us a lot of energy just to get back in the game and answer their runs,” DeMarre Carroll said. “We didn’t have enough in the tank.”
The Hawks (20-18, 6-13 road) had their two-game win streak snapped. They also saw a three-game win streak over the Grizzlies end.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 21 points. Jeff Teague added 20 points. Carroll and Mike Scott added 15 points apiece. Kyle Korver extended his NBA-record streak to 107 games with a 3-pointer.
The Hawks, as they did Friday against the Rockets, got off to another slow start. They shot 1-of-6 to start the game and trailed 9-2 3:16 into the game.
“We just need to be sharper to start the game and throughout the game,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We didn’t have a sharpness that you need coming to Memphis, to this building, against a good, physical team. We found a stretch where we played well. Our guys competed. Like we’ve been saying, we want to do that for longer and harder. It just wasn’t our sharpest night.”
The Grizzlies (17-19, 9-12 home) have won two straight.
Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 21 points and 13 assists. Zach Randolph also had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Grizzlies opened up a 13-point lead, 77-64, in the third quarter with a 12-2 run. The Hawks answered by scoring the final eight points of the period. Shelvin Mack hit a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer. They then scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter, keyed by back-to-back 3-pointers by Carroll. The 16-0 run put the Hawks up 80-77.
The Grizzlies answered with a 12-4 run and the Hawks’ three-point lead was a five-point deficit.
The Hawks could not recover.
“There were a couple of those plays where there is a loose ball and Mike Miller ends up with a 3,” Budenholzer said. “They scored coming out of the timeout (after Hawks took the lead). They executed. They played well down the stretch. They made more plays than us. Mike Miller was a big part of that. He gives them a lot of space. They did a nice job. We climbed that hill and it took a lot out of us to get there.”
Korver explained what Budenholzer meant by his team not being sharp.
“It’s just details,” Korver said. “You can set a screen and you can SET a screen. You can run the break and you can RUN the break. You can box out and you can BOX out. I thought we played fairly hard. It wasn’t like we played at a six and needed to be at a 10. We were just a half step too slow on a couple of plays.”
The Grizzlies took a 48-41 lead at halftime, matching their biggest lead of the first two quarters. The Hawks got another spark from their bench as the reserves scored 23 of the 41 points. Scott led the way with 10 first-half points.
“We just have to get better,” Carroll said. “We can’t keep having Mike Scott come in and save us. That is what our bench is for but us as starters have to look ourselves in the mirror and get better.”
The Hawks leave for London Monday to play the Nets Thursday.
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