A brief recap of the Hawks’ loss in their regular season home finale:
How the game was won: Atlanta played a spirited final 15 minutes, and four of five starters returned to the lineup after being given Sunday’s game in Washington off, but that wasn’t enough to keep the Eastern Conference’s least successful team from beating the No. 1 playoff seed from the East.
All-Star power forward Paul Millsap missed his fifth straight game with a strained right shoulder and contusion, but the bigger problem for the Hawks (60-21) was their sieve-like defense through nearly three quarters.