The Atlanta Hawks ended their first ‘half’ of the NBA season with a convincing loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on Wednesday night, 122-99.
De’Andre Hunter led the Hawks with 21 points off the Atlanta bench with Jalen Johnson adding 19 points. For the Hornets, Brandon Miller scored 26 points with Tre Mann adding 21 points.
It's difficult to contextualize this game without overreacting in some capacity. ‘Worst loss of the season’ is immediately in play because on one hand, given the opponent — despite the absences of centers Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu — you would have expected the Hawks to come into Charlotte and roll the Hornets with both teams hoping to trend in opposite directions as the Hawks try to make the play-in and the Hornets head further to the depth of the lottery.