Hawks struggle in fourth, fall 110-108 on Bulls buzzer beater

The Atlanta Hawks were at home on Wednesday evening to take on the Chicago Bulls. It came down the wire, but the Hawks were not able to secure the victory after a last-second tip from the Bulls, losing 110-108 in the closing moments.

The Hawks did not come out shooting their best, as they started the game shooting 20% from the field. On the other hand, the Bulls were steady on offense, shooting above 60%. After a timeout, the Hawks got into a groove and hit a few threes to cut their deficit. Bogdan Bogdanovic came off the bench with instant offense.

Trae Young came out firing for Hawks, finishing with 16 points in the first quarter and shooting 4-of-7 from three. Despite his first quarter outburst, the Hawks trailed the Bulls 30-25 going into the second.

Just like the first quarter, the Hawks came out flat while the Bulls couldn’t miss in the second. Midway through the quarter, the Hawks were down 46-30 and couldn’t find much consistency on either side of the floor.

Towards the end of the quarter, Young went back into attack mode, scoring every time he got the ball. Young finished the first half with 29 points, but the Hawks still trailed 61-51 going into the third.

After struggling for most of the first half, Dejounte Murray came out aggressive getting to his spots, scoring six early points, and cutting the Hawks deficit to six points. Young also continued his hot streak from three, giving the Bulls a shimmy before knocking this one down.

The Hawks did better defensively in the third quarter, holding the Bulls to only 20 points. Despite their improved effort, the Hawks still trailed 81-77 going into the fourth.

To start the fourth, the Hawks were firing from three, with one from Bogdanovic and another from AJ Griffin to tie the game. A few minutes later, Griffin knocked down another three to give the Hawks a one-point lead. The Hawks continued to knock down more threes from there, increasing their lead.

The Bulls battled back, and with less than a minute remaining, Zach Lavine knocked a big shot to give them a two-point lead. Both teams with back and forth in the finals seconds scoring buckets, and tying the game with 4 seconds left in the fourth.

DeMar DeRozan missed a fadeaway jumper, but Ayo Dosunmu was able to tip the ball in with 0.1 seconds to win the game for the Bulls. Just ten days ago, the Hawks stole a win away from Chicago at State Farm Arena with a buzzer beater by Griffin.

Young finished with 34 points, Onyeka Okongwu finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Murray finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hawks will be back at home on Friday to take on the Detroit Pistons.