The Atlanta Hawks defeated the San Antonio Spurs in an exhilarating preseason matchup at McCamish Pavilion at the Georgia Institute of Technology on Oct. 10, with the game’s winner determined in a thrilling last-minute shot from the Hawks.
Hawks rookie point guard Trae Young sealed the deal to the eventful game by making a 30-foot three-pointer that turned the 127-127 tie into the Hawks’ 130-127 lead with just two seconds left to play. The Spurs’ last-second three bounced off the back rim and out, giving the Hawks the win.
Young said the game-winning shot gave him flashbacks to his time at the University of Oklahoma, where people likened his game to two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry.
“The deep shot, when it went in, I definitely had a little flashback to some of the shots I took at Oklahoma,” Young said.Hawks small forward Taurean Prince sparked the Hawks offense early on, scoring 16 of the team’s 32 first-quarter points on 7-8 shooting from the floor.
Hawks Head Coach Lloyd Pierce said after the game that Prince was “as good as [he has] ever seen him play.”
The Spurs controlled much of the first half, but Hawks guard Tyler Dorsey nailed a long two as time expired to bring the halftime score to 64-62 in favor of San Antonio.
The Hawks exploded out of the gate in the third quarter, going on a 15-0 run that helped set the tone for the rest of the game. The Hawks entered the final frame up 100-92.
The Spurs took advantage of several Hawks turnovers and made a comeback in the final quarter with about four minutes left in the game with an 11-0 run that tied the game up at 116.
Young also credited the team’s chemistry for their success on the court.
“We’ve only played a few games with each other, and we feel like we know everything about each other’s games,” Young said. “It’s a great thing.”
Though the regular season hasn’t started yet, Pierce said that he’s learned a lot from his team thus far.
“I think the guys are starting to believe how we want to play,” Pierce said. “There were simple reads, simple plays. To me, that’s the biggest thing. They’re buying in and they’re trusting each other.”
Young started the game ice-cold, scoring his first bucket three minutes into the second quarter. Despite the rough start, he bounced back and finished with 22 points and seven assists, shooting 4-8 from behind the three-point line. Prince ended the game with 25 points on 9-11 shooting for Atlanta.
Despite the loss, the Spurs had nice contributions from a number of players. Forward Rudy Gay had 28 points on 10-15 shooting from the field, including 3-6 from beyond the three-point arc, while teammate guard Bryn Forbes scored 22 points off the bench.
The Hawks lost their final preseason matchup to the Miami Heat, 119-113 on Oct. 12. Their regular season begins on Oct. 17 against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Ryan Callahan (he/him) (22C) is from Richboro, Pennsylvania, majoring in philosophy, politics, and law. Callahan previously served as a managing editor, the Wheel's sports editor and is also the co-president of Emory's Pre-Law Society. He is currently an English tutor at Ringle, and previously interned for his state representative and district attorney. If he's not at Kaldi's, you can catch him complaining about the Sixers or replaying the Batman: Arkham games.
