Atlanta Hawks drop nail-biter to San Antonio Spurs

16 straight. Coming into the Wednesday night’s match-up, the Atlanta Hawks had not won in San Antonio in 16 straight games. Unfortunately for Mike Budenholzer and company, the number was pushed to 17 on Wednesday night with a 94-92 loss.

The 2-point defeat puts Atlanta at 1-2 on the season and still winless on the road. The Hawks, led by Paul Millsap, couldn’t recover from a dreadful first quarter in which they shot 29% from the field.

The Hawks outscored the Spurs in 3 out of the 4 quarters and made a late push tying the game with a Jeff Teague basket with 13 seconds left. San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili then brought the ball up and drove to the basket and was bailed out by the refs on a questionable (that’s putting it lightly) foul call on Kyle Korver. Manu made both free throws, and the Hawks couldn’t find a shot on the ensuing inbound play, allowing the Spurs to hold on for the two-point win.

The Hawks certainly put in the effort against the World Champs but couldn’t escape the River-walk with a W.

Paul Millsap led Atlanta with 17 points and 7 boards, and Mike Scott came off the bench and shot 50% from the arc and contributed 12 points of his own. The age-less machine, Tim Duncan had 17 points and 13 boards for his 2nd double-double of the season for the Spurs.

Where the Hawks struggled was in the battle of starting point guards. Jeff Teague had as many turnovers as he did points (5) while his counter-part, Tony Parker, had 17 points and 7 assists. Teague will need to be more consistent if the Hawks are hoping to make a splash in the wide-open Eastern Conference.

The Atlanta Hawks next take on the Charlotte Hornets in a road contest on Friday, while the Spurs travel cross-state to take on the Houston Rockets on Thursday.