Hawks at Trail Blazers
The Atlanta Hawks attempt to recover from a damaging loss to begin a West Coast road trip when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. In the opener of the three-game voyage Friday in Sacramento, the Hawks coughed up a 22-point third-quarter lead and fell 108-107 on a layup in the waning moments.
"I think we let up midway through the third quarter," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer told the media. "They got it down to 10 going into the fourth quarter and at that point it's a ball game." The loss spoiled a game in which the Hawks got three starters to the 20-point mark, led by Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 28, and shot 50.7 percent from the floor. They now take aim at a Trail Blazers bunch that entered Sunday allowing 110.1 points, more than all but four other teams in the NBA. Defense was an issue once again for Portland in Thursday's 120-111 loss to Boston but the Trail Blazers reportedly made a move on Sunday to add strength to the frontcourt, shipping away center Mason Plumlee to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for center Jusuf Nurkic and a first-round draft pick.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE HAWKS (31-23): Atlanta was not pleased with the lack of a whistle on Hardaway's attempt at the buzzer at Sacramento, but it didn't take away from another stellar effort for the fourth-year pro. He is averaging 22 points while shooting 53.4 percent over the past five games and produced 61 points on 21-of-35 shooting in the last two road contests. Forward Thabo Sefolosha missed the last seven games with a groin injury and remains day-to-day.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (23-31): The loss to the Celtics was costly, as guard Evan Turner broke a bone in his right hand and will miss up to six weeks of action. Forward Al-Farouq Aminu offered a silver lining in a rare hot-shooting night by scoring a season-high 26 points on 8-of-12 from the floor. Leading scorer Damian Lillard scored at least 28 points in three straight games while backcourt mate C.J. McCollum had 28 in the last meeting with Atlanta on Jan. 20, 2016.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks G Dennis Schroder is averaging 21.7 points while shooting 52.2 percent over a three-game stretch.
2. Lillard is averaging 16.3 points in seven career games against Atlanta, his lowest mark against any NBA opponent.
3. Atlanta won four straight meetings and 11 of the last 15.