NBA News Wire
Trail Blazers 100, Hawks 85
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
ATLANTA — The Portland Trail Blazers are getting healthy just in time. The same can’t be said for the reeling Atlanta Hawks.
Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge returned from a seven-game absence with a big game, leading the Blazers past the Hawks 100-85 on Thursday at Philips Arena.
Aldridge suffered a back injury after an ugly fall March 12 against the San Antonio Spurs. On Thursday, he scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in 32 minutes of action.
The banged-up Hawks, who were without guard Kyle Korver (back) and center Pero Antic (ankle), got very little going on the inside and got off to a cold start from the outside, missing eight of their first nine 3-point attempts. They were down 53-37 at halftime.
Atlanta forward DeMarre Carroll sparked a third-quarter rally and got the Hawks back in the game with a 3-pointer that cut the Blazers’ lead to 58-52 with 6:55 left in the quarter.
Portland answered with a 13-0 run and took a 78-64 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Hawks made a couple of runs in the fourth quarter. Jumpers from Hawks center Mike Muscala and guard Lou Williams cut the Portland lead to six with seven minutes to play. But Portland always had an answer; most of the time it came from Aldridge.
A 3-point play from Aldridge ended an early fourth-quarter Hawks flurry and pushed the Blazers’ lead to double figures. A 3-pointer from Portland forward Nicolas Batum and putback from Aldridge squashed the final challenge from the Hawks.
All five Portland starters finished in double figures in points, with point guard Damian Lillard scoring 21.
The Blazers (46-27) are one four teams within two games of each other for the last four spots in the Western Conference. Portland began the night in fifth, four games behind the Houston Rockets for the fourth spot.
The Hawks (31-40) began the night with a two-game lead over the New York Knicks for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta has been on a dismal stretch: 6-19 in the past 25 games.
Point guard Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 22 points.
NOTES: Atlanta C Pero Antic (ankle) and G Kyle Korver (back) sat out Thursday’s games with injuries. … Portland F LaMarcus Aldridge (back) returned from a seven-game absence. The Trail Blazers went 3-4 in Aldridge’s absence. … Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was in attendance at Philips Arena on Thursday. … The Hawks, who lost Wednesday at Minnesota, entered Thursday night’s game at 6-12 on the second night of back-to-back games this season. … The Trail Blazers finish their five-game road trip at Chicago on Friday night.
