Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images The Atlanta Hawks were in the Windy City on Tuesday evening to take on the Chicago Bulls. Both teams have been dealing with injuries to important players, and both are neck and neck with...
Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty ImagesThe Atlanta Hawks were in the Windy City on Tuesday evening to take on the Chicago Bulls.
Both teams have been dealing with injuries to important players, and both are neck and neck with each other in the standings. Luckily for the Hawks, they were able to get Jalen Johnson back after he missed the last 14 games.
Johnson made an immediate impact in his return to start the game, doing a little bit of everything as always.
We've played 5 minutes and JJ has 4 points, 3, boards, and a blocked shot pic.twitter.com/rlT167uKTY
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2023The Hawks went down early, but the three-point shot got them back into the swing of things, thanks to Garrison Matthews and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Back-to-back triples pic.twitter.com/QmpDVdw3bp
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2023The Hawks were down by as much as 11 points in the first half but turned that around down the stretch of the second quarter. Murray took over in the quarter, getting to his spots and also finding his open teammates.
B3y from DM5 pic.twitter.com/v8NGvAPV0P
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2023DJ triple ?? Trae triple#NBAAllStar ? pic.twitter.com/ouTmxAZ5Hn
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2023The Hawks took full control of the half and went into halftime with a 56-50 lead. That energy continued into the second half, and the Hawks got out to an early 12-point lead.
Trae warming up the 3-ball in the 3rd pic.twitter.com/A11WHlsE6F
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2023Unfortunately, that lead didn't stick around for long, and the Bulls battled back to keep the game tight. Johnson continued his strong night, and lifted up for this one-hand put-back dunk in the third quarter.
Jalen Johnson is SO BACK pic.twitter.com/FnEXYOlyQS
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2023Young was dicing the Bulls up with his playmaking and found Bogdanovic for this nice pass in the fourth quarter.
Trae dimes up Bogi pic.twitter.com/7opWnQRfYx
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2023Both teams went back and forth in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls kept the lead for the majority. In the end, the Hawks couldn't get over the hump and DeMar DeRozan took over when it mattered the most.
Young finished with 21 points and 13 assists, Bogdanovic finished with 22 points, and Murray finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
The Hawks will be back in action against the Sacramento Kings on Friday.