Hawks claw back from 19 down, fueled by Johnson and Daniels, but fall just short against a streaking Hornets squad.
The Atlanta Hawks erased most of a 19-point deficit but ran out of time in a 110-107 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
The defeat at Spectrum Center sent Atlanta into the All-Star break with a missed opportunity to solidify its hold on the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference. Instead, the Hawks dropped to 1-3 in the season series against Charlotte, which has now won 10 of its last 11 games.
Charlotte’s perimeter barrage set the tone early. Brandon Miller scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while LaMelo Ball knocked down seven 3-pointers on his way to 24 points. Kon Knueppel added 18 points, connecting on four shots from beyond the arc. As a team, the Hornets finished 19 of 51 from deep, building a 17-point first-half lead behind 10 combined 3s from Miller, Ball, and Knueppel before intermission.
The Hornets were short-handed after the NBA suspended Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate for four games following a fight earlier in the week. Even so, Charlotte pieced together enough production to withstand Atlanta’s late surge. G League call-up PJ Hall contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds, helping stabilize the frontcourt.
Atlanta trailed by as many as 19 in the second half and was still down 108-100 with 2:30 remaining. What followed was a frantic sequence that nearly flipped the game.
After strong defensive pressure forced a late-clock heave by Grant Williams, officials initially whistled CJ McCollum for a foul. The Hawks challenged and won, turning the play into a jump ball. Moments later, Williams appeared to win possession and attempt a layup, only for Nickeil Alexander-Walker to chase him down from behind. Officials called a foul on Alexander-Walker, but Atlanta used its second challenge in quick succession and prevailed again. The defensive stand ignited a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to 108-107.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Mouhamed Gueye provided a spark after not playing in the first half. His corner 3-pointer with 10:49 left trimmed the margin to 11, and another from nearly the same spot with 9:23 to go pulled Atlanta within single digits for the first time since late in the second quarter.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder later described Gueye’s impact in detailed terms, emphasizing how his energy reverberated across the roster.
“Really, just what he did,” Snyder said. “He throws himself into the game, defensively and on the boards, and that’s something really it’s a good thing for our whole team to understand. And I think when he does that, the basket gets bigger, you’re just being instinctive.”
Atlanta’s late push created a final opportunity. Jalen Johnson’s jumper with 1:05 remaining brought the Hawks within one. But on a fast break chance to take the lead, Onyeka Okongwu turned the ball over. Forced to foul, the Hawks sent Knueppel to the line, and his two free throws with 19.4 seconds left stretched the lead to three.
On the final possession, Atlanta looked to attack before Charlotte’s defense could get set. The ball swung to Okongwu, who launched a contested 3-pointer with just over two seconds on the shot clock. Miller blocked the attempt, and although McCollum chased down the loose ball in the corner, the buzzer sounded before he could release a second-chance shot.
Dyson Daniels, who finished with 21 points, pointed to second-quarter lapses that put Atlanta in catch-up mode.
“We just had a lot of breakdowns on defense, miscommunications,” Daniels said. “They were running guard-guard, pick-and-rolls all game, and we just couldn’t figure out a way to… Like, our communication was really bad tonight, so we dug ourselves too deep of a hole, and we fought back. But we can’t keep doing that to ourselves.”
McCollum, who had 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists off the bench, focused on Charlotte’s early edge in physicality and pace.
“They got offensive rebounds. So that hurts,” McCollum said. “They scored in transition. I think in early in the game, they got it however they wanted it. I think we had more resistance in the second half, and we had a six-minute stretch or seven-minute stretch where we only go, you know, eight to 10 points, which is how we have to defend throughout the entire game.”
Johnson finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists, nearly recording a triple-double as Atlanta tried to climb out of the early deficit.
The Hawks now head into the All-Star break searching for greater defensive consistency. They return to action Feb. 19 against the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia, where the challenge will be translating late-game urgency into a full 48-minute performance.