Suns beat Hawks 121-117 in late comeback

The Atlanta Hawks took on the Phoenix Suns late Saturday night in a tilt that leaked into the early morning on the east coast. The Hawks fell late in this one as they lost to the Suns 121-117 in a game that came down to the final moments. It was a tightly played contest throughout as there were 20 ties and 13 lead changes in the contest.

The Hawks led 26-25 after the first quarter due to a miraculous shot from beyond half court by Danilo Gallinari at the buzzer.

Trae Young led the Hawks with seven points in the first.

John Collins was again very good for the Hawks in this one, posting 13 points and four rebounds in the first half. His activity as a roller combined with the ability to knock down three pointers continues to be a deadly combination for the fifth-year forward.

The Suns led 59-58 at the half despite being without their starting center Deandre Ayton for this game. Interestingly, Phoenix shot 7-for-25 on three pointers in the first half despite coming into the contest shooting just 28.9 threes per game, which ranked 28th in the NBA coming into play on Saturday.

Young had 13 points and five assists for the Hawks in the first half.

The Hawks set a season high for points in a quarter with 40 points in the third. Young was electric, totally 14 points and six assists in the period.

Atlanta outscored the Suns by 13 in the quarter, and led 98-86 heading into the fourth.

It looked like the Hawks may be able to pull away at a couple of points early in the fourth, but Phoenix rallied vs, Atlanta’s second unit and trailed just 106-103 midway through the period. It was tight from there as it was just a 113-111 Hawks lead with 3:02 to go.

Devin Booker tied the game at 113 with a long two with two minutes to go. Moments later, Mikal Bridges found Frank Kaminsky for a dunk to give the Suns the lead with 45 seconds remaining. Phoenix strung together a couple of stops from there and closed out a 121-117 win behind a late 14-2 run that put them over the top.

Young finished with 31 points and 13 assists while Collins added 26 points (9-of-12 from the floor) and 10 rebounds in the loss. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 18 points and seven rebounds.

Booker finished with 38 points and 6 rebounds in the win, with Chris Paul adding 16 points and 13 assists.

The Hawks fall to 4-6 on the season with the loss, and will travel to ‘The Bay’ to play the Golden State Warriors on a Monday night.

Stay tuned.