The Atlanta Hawks closed 2024 with four straight victories, punctuated by a blowout win over the Toronto Raptors. That victory kicked off a six-game road trip, the longest of the season for Atlanta, and the Hawks returned to action on New Year’s Day in Denver. While the first half was competitive, the Nuggets broke things open in the third quarter, and the Hawks saw their winning streak come to a screeching halt.
Before the game even began, ominous clouds assembled for the Hawks when Jalen Johnson was added to the injury report with a shoulder issue. Johnson has been a bell weather for Atlanta all season, and the Hawks struggle mightily when he is off the court. That also took place in Denver, with the Hawks forced to go deeper into their bench with rather ugly results and tepid defensive resistance.
In the big picture, the 19-point loss represented a below-average performance from the Hawks, but not one that was utterly damning. Atlanta entered as a nine-point underdog after Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic were ruled out and, well, Denver has the best player on the planet on its roster.
In only 30 minutes of action, Nikola Jokic finished with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 15 assists, even on a night when he “only” shot 50 percent from the field. The absence of Johnson made things even more difficult for the Hawks to slow him, but it was also a total buzzsaw for Atlanta to navigate when Jokic was operating at that level.
The Hawks will aim to bounce back on Friday evening in Los Angeles when they begin a back-to-back set against the Lakers and the Clippers. It remains to be seen whether Johnson and/or Bogdanovic will return for that matchup, but while Wednesday was a hiccup, it wasn’t necessarily indicative of any sort of negative trend for the Hawks.
