Denver Nuggets Routed by Hawks, 119-105
The Denver Nuggets couldn’t keep pace with the Hawks on Monday night, falling to a hot-shooting Atlanta team by a final score of 119-105.
The Atlanta Hawks shot 50 percent on the night against the Nuggets, who themselves shot only 39 percent on Monday. Will Barton led Denver in scoring with 21 points in 34 minutes off the bench. Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari and Nikola Jokic each added 15 points a piece. Sean Kilpatrick, recently signed to his second 10-day contract, scored 11 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
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For the Atlanta Hawks, Paul Millsap scored 22 points in a balanced scoring attack, while also notching 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Al Horford helped the Hawks cause with 18 points, while Jeff Teague put in a double-double for Atlanta with 12 points and 10 dimes. Dennis Schroder added 15 points off the bench.
After a tightly contested first quarter, Atlanta held a narrow 31-30 lead going into the second period of play. The game got out of control then, as the Atlanta Hawks ran out to a 16-point lead at halftime at 66-50. The 66-points allowed ties the highest scoring first half that the Denver Nuggets have given up thus far this season.
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The Denver Nuggets tried to make a game of it in the third quarter, outscoring the Atlanta Hawks 26-24 in the period and narrowing their lead. The Nuggets would get the lead down to 11 points at one instance, only for Atlanta to go on a run to bring the lead back to 17-points. Gary Harris and Will Barton did what they could in the second half, making big baskets only for the Hawks to go on a quick run themselves.
A little after midway through the fourth quarter, both coaches elected to sit their starters in favor of their reserves. We even had a Mike Miller sighting tonight. Before Monday’s game, the Denver Nuggets looked to have a clear advantage on the glass against one of the worst rebounding teams in the league — especially after a victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. That was not the case, as the Nuggets only held a +1 rebounding differential, 43-42.
The Atlanta Hawks’ motion offense was clicking on all cylinders against the Denver Nuggets, as they assisted 28 times on Monday. The Nuggets assisted on only 18 baskets in the game.
Monday’s defeat to Atlanta is the first time that the Hawks have won in Denver since 2006. This loss certainly stings, and shows despite some big wins as of late for the Denver Nuggets, they still have a lot of work to do in order to remain competitive in the Western Conference playoff race. Atlanta was also hungry to get back on track after two narrow defeats to Sacramento and Phoenix.
Next: Denver Nuggets Host Atlanta Hawks
Monday’s game concludes the Denver Nuggets’ longest home-stand of the season. They travel to Boston to face the Celtics on Wednesday.