Veteran Hawks soar past young Nuggets, hand team third straight loss

In a game full of ups and downs, but never feeling out of hand for the Hawks, Atlanta disposed of Denver 116-98. The Hawks dominated the Nuggets with a combination of defense, perimeter shooting and sheer experience as they answered every Denver run with a calm and measured response the way only the most veteran and united teams could.

THE RUNDOWN

First Quarter – Starters: Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, JaKarr Sampson, Darrell Arthur, Nikola Jokic

Stat of the quarter: 6-8 to 1-5 Atlanta advantage from three. Six Nuggets turnovers to three Hawks turnovers.

The quarter started out pretty ugly as the Hawks flew right out of the gates on a 10-2 run.

As was covered in the preview, Atlanta was going to try to force turnovers and turn them into points. Within the first two minutes of the game Sampson turned the ball over leading to a Hardaway Jr. three.

It was looking pretty ugly but as customary of a Michael Malone team, the Nuggets never wavered when the going got rough. The bench came in and went on a 8-2 run to end the quarter behind the scoring prowess of Augustin:

End of first: Hawks up 33-23.

Second Quarter – Starters: D.J. Augustin, Will Barton, Axel Toupane, Joffrey Lauvergne, Jusuf Nurkic

Stat of the quarter: Nuggets bench outscored the starters 16-9.

The bench built on that momentum as they opened the second on a 7-0 run. What looked to be a huge deficit had suddenly evaporated into just a one possession game.

The main benefactor of Kenneth Faried being held out with a sore back was not Arthur who took his starting spot but rather Nurkic who went from two straight Did Not Play – Coach’s Decisions to logging __ minutes tonight.

His defense was pivotal in the bench unit’s dominance and even though it came at the expense of Faried taking a game off, it was great to see Nurkic on the court.

Mudiay made a big three to give the Nuggets the lead for a brief moment as the Hawks responded with a 7-0 run to end the half. As if that weren’t enough, Schröder rubbed salt in the wound with a dirty play as he tried to grab Jokic’s ankles on an inbound pass:

End of second: Hawks up 54-48.

Third Quarter – Starters: Mudiay, Harris, Sampson, Arthur, Jokic

Stat of the quarter: Nuggets allow Hawks to shoot 63.2 percent from the field in a must-win quarter.

Once again the starters got outplayed as they let a mere 6-point halftime deficit turn into a 16-point gap before the bench checked back in.

Fortunately the bench unit continued to be propelled by Nurkic’s great play as he reminded fans exactly why he was so highly regarded last year. The key to Nurkic’s success has always been patience and tonight he took that message to heart. Look at how he surveys the floor before finding Harris with a great pass on the backcut:

The bench fought hard, including a 10-1 run in the quarter, but the gap remained.

End of third: Hawks up 87-76.

Fourth Quarter – Starters: Augustin, Barton, Toupane, Lauvergne, Nurkic

Stat of the quarter: Nuggets shoot 40 percent from the field in pivotal quarter, starters combine for a measly 7 points.

The Nuggets were scoring in bunches at the beginning behind the sparks of Augustin and Barton but seemingly every point was answered by a hope-dampening three from Atlanta.

In the end, they simply did not have the sheer firepower to mount the comeback as the Hawks closed the game out like a veteran team on the verge of playoffs while the Nuggets struggled to stay afloat.

In the last minute of the game, JaKarr came blasting through a screen set by Kris Humphris, picking up the flagrant foul.

Frustrating night for the Nuggets.

Final: Nuggets win 110-94.

WHERE/WHEN

Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA | March 17th | Regular Season Game 69 (28-41)
PLAYS OF THE GAME

Jokic with the sweet bounce pass inside to Arthur:

Nurkic looks like he’s playing on a Nerf net against kids on this possession!

BY THE NUMBERS

Terrible shooting night for the Nuggets as they clanked their way to a 27.3 percent shooting night from beyond the arc. Not going to win against many teams much less the Hawks shooting like that.

The precense of Faried was sorely missed as the Nuggets grabbed just 39 rebounds (down from their average 44.7 per game) and just 9 offensive boards (11.5 average). The decision to proceed cautiously with his return is a wise one, but Faried may mean more to the Nuggets’ success than many fans give him credit for. His impact is immense.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Nuggets will now fly over to Charlotte and take on an absolutely buzzing Hornets team that have won 9 of their last 10 games. Tip off is a bit early on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. MST.