Hawks Collins and Goodwin take down Clippers 102-95

Photo Courtesy ofย Alexander Jonesi โ€ข CC BY-SA 2.0

Atlanta returned to home court to face the LA Clippers on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena.

Hawks Trae Young was out due to a right thigh contusion. While Jeff Teague started in Youngโ€™s place.

The Clippers also had noticeable absences of Patrick Beverly, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George . George was seen practicing pre-game. However he did sit out once the game began due to a strained right hamstring. Leonard skipped the back-to-back games (he has not played consecutive games since 2017). While Beverly was out due to a groin injury.

John Collins led the Hawks in scoring a double-double with a season high 33 points 16 rebounds. Goodwin collected 19 points (all in the fourth) the most heโ€™s scored in a quarter in his career, to help seal the dub.

Heading into the final quarter the Hawks trailed the Clippers by 6 points.

Letโ€™s talk about Goodwin standout performance.

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After scoring a 3 midway into the fourth, Goodwin lobbed to Collins to force the score 91-88. Collins scored again to put the score to 91-90.

Goodwin headed to the rim and gave the Hawks a two-point lead.

Shortly afterwards Goodwin connected all three free throws, giving the Hawks a five point lead boosting the score 96-91. Goodwin finds Deโ€™Andre Hunter hit a three pointer from the corner to put the score at 99-93.ย  Lou Williams scored on a pair of free throws to help the Hawks continue the lead. In the end the Clippers could not hold off the Hawks. Atlanta walked away with a 102-95 home win.

โ€œHate to start with the negative but there’s nothing more disturbing than watching our guys in that first half. The message was we’re just not in a position to come out and not compete the way we were in the first half and to not have a sense of urgency against a team that played the night before. said Head Coach Lloyd Pierce โ€œI hope this is a momentum builder. I hope this is an understanding of how we have to play from start to finish. But, I couldn’t be prouder of the guys in that fourth quarter and the way they battled.โ€

When asked Brandon Goodwin and Cam Reddish about one one to describe their mood this is what they said:

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Next Up: The Atlanta Hawks now (11-34) are on the road to face the Oklahoma City Thunder (26-19) today at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Tip-off is at 8:00 pm.