Hawks down Spurs 134-129 in 2OT

On game seven of the Atlanta Hawks’ eight-game road stretch, the Atlanta Hawks traveled to San Antonio on Thursday night with hopes to even their season series against the Spurs. Atlanta was successful in the venture, downing the Spurs 134-129 in double overtime.

It is a good sign for the Hawks to start of their stretch without John Collins with a victory. The star forward suffered a sprained ankle and bone bruising in the Hawks’ matchup against the Nuggets earlier this week.

The Hawks were also missing DeAndre Hunter in this contest due to knee soreness. Solomon Hill and Tony Snell filled in for the two usual starters.

The Hawks jumped out to an early lead to kick off the game. Atlanta was dominant in the paint early on, which can be seen on this Trae Young-Bogdan Bogdanovic connection.

Lou Williams made his second Hawks debut in tonight’s matchup. Williams last played for the Hawks from 2011-2013.

The Hawks held onto the quick lead they gained, and Brandon Goodwin added more fuel to the fire, hitting a three at the first quarter buzzer. Atlanta led 32-22 at the end of the first.

The Spurs opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run, forcing Nate McMillan to call an early timeout. The Hawks managed to extend their lead further later in the second.

Clint Capela had a dominant first half, and he was the main reason why the Hawks were winning the inside game. He recorded 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Young tweaked his left knee towards the end of the second quarter, but he started the second half. Despite rejoining the starting lineup, Young’s involvement and minutes dwindled early in the second half.

Bogdanovic and Capela were there to pickup the offensive slack.

A good sign for the Hawks was that rookie big man Onyeka Okongwu showed some productivity against the Spurs. He scored a career-high 10 points filling in for some of those minutes that the Hawks are missing from Collins.

Demar DeRozan caught fire at the end of the third period. He was a big reason as to why the Hawks only led 84-80 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was tight the entire way. The Hawks managed to hold onto their small lead for the nearly until the end of the period, but there was drama to be had.

Kevin Huerter committed a turnover and the Spurs cut the lead to just one point with 15 seconds left. DeRozan then tied the game at 110 a piece with 2.7 seconds left. Young then missed the would-be game-winning floater as the ball just barely rolled off the front of the rim as the game headed to overtime.

The first overtime was played closely, but the Hawks had a three point lead late in the period. Rudy Gay hit a game-tying three under the one-minute mark, and that led to a second overtime.

The second overtime was back-and-forth, with the teams exchanging one-point leads throughout until the Hawks took a 130-124 point lead behind a barrage of points from Young late in the period.

A 5-0 Spurs run and another three from Gay brought San Antonio within one with 33 seconds left, but Danillo Gallinari put things on ice with a three of his own with 11.8 seconds to go.

Capela dominated inside with 28 points and 17 rebounds in the win. Young finished with 28 points and 12 assists. Bogdanovic added 28 points of his own, with Gallinari adding 16 points and 12 rebounds. Williams had seven points and five assists in his debut.

DeRozan had 36 points for the Spurs, while Derrick White added 29 points.

The Hawks will play in New Orleans vs. the Pelicans to complete the back-to-back and the road trip Friday evening.