Atlanta Hawks lose to Suns on buzzer-beater, 98-95

The Atlanta Hawks lost a tough game in Phoenix to the Suns on an Archie Goodwin buzzer-beating three-pointer to fall to the reeling Suns, 98-95 Saturday.

The Atlanta Hawks found out Saturday afternoon that they would have to play their game against the Phoenix Suns without their best player in sure-fire All-Star power forward Paul Millsap, who had to return home to Louisiana to attend his grandfather’s funeral. Millsap does plan to rejoin the team in Denver when they take on the Nuggets Monday night.

Atlanta had one of its hands tied behind its back when it faced the Suns Saturday night. While Atlanta battled admirably despite not shooting the basketball well at all in the first half, it was a buzzer-beating three-point field goal off the hands of point guard Archie Goodwin that was the deciding factor in this game, as the Phoenix Suns topped the Atlanta Hawks, 98-95, ending their six-game slide in the process.

The Atlanta Hawks had to get creative to have any chance at accounting for Paul Millsap’s almost nightly double-double in the aggregate. Mike Scott did a fantastic job shooting off the Atlanta bench, as he had 16 points on 7-11 shooting, including 2-3 from long-range. The offensive-minded big man for the Hawks also gathered four rebounds playing in over 26 minutes off the Atlanta bench.

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Al Horford wasn’t feeling it from the field (nine points on 4-12 shooting), but did battle on the glass in Millsap’s absence, bringing down 16 rebounds against a behemoth on the glass in Phoenix’s Tyson Chandler, who set a Suns’ franchise record for rebounds in a game Saturday night with 27 in his double-double.

However, it was the poor shooting in the first half that accounted for only 39 points entering halftime and a losing effort on the glass, 61-49 that ultimately helped Phoenix be in position to win this close game at Talking Stick Resort Arena Saturday night. Having Paul Millsap probably would have tipped the game in the Atlanta Hawks’ favor in the fourth quarter.

Besides Mike Scott, three other Atlanta Hawks had double figures in scoring. Kent Bazemore led the team with 21 points on 7-16 shooting, including 3-6 from three. He also had six rebounds against the Suns.

Dennis Schroder had 19 points on 6-10 shooting, including 3-6 from three off the Atlanta bench. Schroder had five assists, two steals, a block, and a rebound.

Kyle Korver found his stroke from three, as he had 11 points on 4-9 shooting, including 3-6 from three. His three-point stroke looked good against the Suns, so maybe this is a sign of good things to come for the Atlanta Hawks’ sharpshooter. Korver also had five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks against Phoenix.

Next: Atlanta Hawks lose to Kings for first time in eight years, 91-88

This loss will sting for a day or so, but hopefully the Atlanta Hawks can put this one in the rearview mirror and get ready for playing basketball in a mile high altitude. Atlanta will play the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on Monday night with a chance to finish their four-game West Coast road trip at .500 and on a winning note. Let’s Go Hawks!

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