Atlanta Hawks drop a close one to Clippers, 85-83

The Atlanta Hawks missed a potential game-tying shot by Paul Millsap near the buzzer, falling to the Los Angeles Clippers, 85-83 Wednesday night at home.

The Atlanta Hawks have lost three of their last four games, as they lost a tight one at home to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, 85-83. Neither team shot the basketball well at Philips Arena, but the Clippers did a slightly better job at the free throw line and that was the difference in this close game.

Atlanta employed the Hack-a-Dre defensive strategy on poor free throw shooting center DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers. Jordan at one point made four straight free throws, sinking seven of his 12 attempts at the charity stripe. Los Angeles went 14-21 on their free throws, while the Atlanta Hawks went 7-14 at the line, with five combined misses from Al Horford and Paul Millsap.

All five starters for the Atlanta Hawks had double figures in scoring. Jeff Teague led the way with 16 points on 7-10 shooting, including 2-2 from three. He played surprisingly well against the Clippers Wednesday night despite rumors circulating about him being on the trading block. Teague had three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

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Kyle Korver is finally getting back his smooth stroke from long distance, as he had 14 points on 4-5 shooting, including a perfect 4-4 from three. Eventually Korver was going to start making his three-point shots in bunches and perhaps Wednesday night was that game he finally put it all together in 2015-16. He had three rebounds, three assists, and a block.

Kent Bazemore managed to get 12 points despite not having a great day from the field (5-15) or from three (1-4). He did battle on the boards with five rebounds and did lead the Hawks in plus/minus against the Clippers with +11. Bazemore would also have two assists and a steal.

Paul Millsap had another double-double for the Atlanta Hawks with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He also had four assists, two blocks and a steal. Al Horford had 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and a steal.

What actually did the Hawks in more than anything was that they were too careless with the basketball, as Atlanta turned the ball over 23 times compared to the 12 turnovers made by the Clippers.

Next: Jeff Teague drawing interest from New York Knicks?

Atlanta will have to put this game in the past quickly as the Hawks will travel up to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Pacers Thursday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a 7:00 PM ET tipoff. Indiana is only a game above .500 at 23-22 so maybe the Hawks can get back to their winning ways tomorrow night. Let’s Go Hawks!

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