Hawks show improvement in 111-106 loss to Jazz

The Atlanta Hawks hosted the Utah Jazz Thursday night, aiming to stop a five-game losing skid after a rather disastrous one-game road trip to New York. On the bright side, Thursday marked the last home game of the John Collins suspension, with the third-year big man scheduled to return on Dec. 23 in Cleveland.

The Hawks made a tweak to the starting lineup, electing to go with rookie Bruno Fernando at center in place of Damian Jones or Alex Len. The lineup also did not feature Jabari Parker, instead favoring a small-ball look as the veteran moves back to his sixth man role a couple games early.

Fernando got involved early with help from Kevin Huerter:

The Hawks led 13-9 at the 6:36 mark in the first behind seven quick points from Cam Reddish:

A 14-6 run by Atlanta got the home team an 18-13 lead with less than five minutes left in the first, but the Jazz responded with six straight points to regain the lead in less than a minute of game time.

The Hawks fired back with an 8-2 run late in the first and wound up leading 30-28 heading to the second.

A 9-2 Hawks run set the tone in the second as they got out to a 42-34 lead at the 6:35 mark in the second.

Trae Young was cooking in the second, scoring 11 points in under seven minutes to open the quarter. The Hawks led by as many as 11 in the second at 50-39, but Utah fought back with an 11-2 run late and trailed by only four at the half.

Young led Hawks scorers with 15 first half points, with Reddish adding 11.

Parker excelled back in the bench role in the opening half, scoring 13 points (6-for-7 from the floor).

Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 11 points each at the break.

Utah started the half on an 8-3 run to take a one-point lead, with their defense fueling them. The Hawks scored just three points in the first 3:24 of the second half. The pace picked up a bit early towards the middle of the third the teams exchanging baskets as well as the lead.

The Hawks took a 70-67 lead with a three-pointer from Allen Crabbe, pushing the run to 8-0 after Utah got up by five.

Neither team was able to mount a substantial run from there, with the lead going back and forth throughout the period. Atlanta led 84-83 heading to the fourth as Parker scored eight more points in the third quarter.

A 9-2 Hawks run (seven of the nine points from Young, and the other was a Parker dunk, assisted by Young) to start the fourth put them up 93-87 with 9:32 remaining.

Utah responded with an 8-0 run to go up two before Young hit a deep three-pointer to regain a 96-95 lead for the Hawks with 5:57 remaining. After a bucket from the Jazz, Huerter hit a three to tie the score at 99 at the five-minute mark.

Mitchell (15 fourth-quarter points) fueled the Jazz late as they took a 103-99 lead with 3:24 remaining. The Jazz run was extended to 8-2 as they held a 107-101 lead with 1:04 remaining.

Huerter hit a three to cut it back to 109-106 in favor of the Jazz with just over 30 seconds left and that gave the Hawks some life. Mitchell got to the line on the ensuing Jazz possession, making both and giving the Jazz a 111-106 lead as Atlanta called timeout with 13 seconds left on the clock. Ultimately, the Hawks were unable to catch up, losing 111-106.

Young finished with 30 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the loss. Parker added 23 points (10-for-16 from the field) eight rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes off the bench. Huerter added 17 points (6-for-13 from the floor, 3-for-7 from three-point-range).

Mitchell led Jazz scorers with 30 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds. Rudy Gobert added 20 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.

The Hawks will be back on the road Saturday night when they play the Brooklyn Nets.