Hawks 123, Spurs 116: Atlanta erases a 19-point deficit in preseason opener
San Antonio led 39-20 after one quarter, but Atlanta outscored the Spurs by 15 over the second half.
The Atlanta Hawks came back from a 19-point first-quarter deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 123-116 on Thursday in San Antonio, in the Spurs' preseason opener, according to Fox San Antonio.
How the score moved
San Antonio led 39-20 after one quarter and 69-62 at halftime. Atlanta then outscored the Spurs 31-26 in the third quarter, leaving the Spurs up 95-93, and won the fourth 30-21 to take the game. Fox San Antonio's box score shows Atlanta shooting 46 of 103 from the field and 18 of 46 from three-point range, while the Spurs went 37 of 80 overall and 14 of 37 from three. The Spurs were far busier at the free-throw line, making 28 of 35 to Atlanta's 13 of 16; Atlanta was whistled for 24 fouls to San Antonio's 16.
The source does not describe the individual sequences that decided the fourth quarter, so Torch will not guess at them. The numbers do show where the gap came from: Atlanta's three-point volume and accuracy outweighed San Antonio's advantage at the line.
The scorers
Fox San Antonio lists Atlanta's balanced scoring as 16 points for Jalen Newell, 15 for Daeqwon Flemings, 14 for CJ McCollum, and 13 each for Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu, with Landale and Kispert at 10 apiece. For San Antonio, Harper led with 16, followed by Castle and Jones Garcia with 14 each, Vassell with 12 and Champagnie with 10. Victor Wembanyama scored 9 points with one three-pointer, per the same box score.
What it means
It is a preseason game, and the result carries little weight on its own; teams use these nights to test rotations and combinations. The Spurs have also said forward Tobias Harris will miss the preseason with a strained left calf suffered in training camp. He will be reevaluated after the five-game preseason schedule and is listed as questionable for the regular-season opener against Oklahoma City on October 20, Fox San Antonio reports.
San Antonio's next preseason game is Saturday against the Phoenix Suns.