The Chicago Bulls led the Atlanta Hawks 108-87 with a bit more than one minute to play in the third quarter on Thursday. There’s no such thing as an insurmountable lead in the NBA, but 21 points in the closing moments of the third is about as close as it comes. At that point, ESPN’s win probability metric gave the Bulls a 99.2% chance to win the game.
But the Hawks did manage to come back, and it took a historic effort to do so.
The Hawks stormed all the way back and won 141-133 thanks to an incredible 50-point effort in the fourth quarter. On top of scoring 50 points, they committed only one turnover in the fourth. In the process, the Hawks became the first team of the play-by-play era, which dates back to the 1997-98 season, to score 50 points with one turnover or fewer in a game’s final frame.
The key stretch came starting with 5:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. A Jevon Carter bucket gave the Bulls a 126-110 lead, and, once again, near certain victory. The Bulls didn’t score again until the 1:47 mark in the fourth quarter. However, in that brief stretch of three minutes and 44 seconds, the Hawks scored 20 consecutive points to take a four-point lead.
Trae Young scored 27 points and had 13 assists with 16 of his points coming in the fourth, including the tying 3-pointer that made it 126-126 with 3:03 to play. Elsewhere, Jalen Johnson led the Hawks with 30 points and 15 rebounds while De’Andre Hunter poured in 25 off the bench.
While the Hawks made history in the fourth quarter on Thursday, it wasn’t even the best offensive quarter the Hawks have had in franchise history. In 1970, the Hawks scored 54 points in a quarter against the San Diego Clippers. Missing out on the record won’t cost the Hawks any sleep tonight, though, as the comeback was yet another statement in what has been a surprisingly strong season thus far.
At 16-15, the Hawks are competing for a top-six playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. They currently sit at No. 7, just a half-game behind the Miami Heat in a season in which most expected them to hand the San Antonio Spurs a lottery pick.
The Hawks have beaten the Celtics on the road and earned multiple victories over both the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. There’s still plenty for Atlanta to figure out long-term on both sides of the ball, but this new formula of surrounding Young with athletic wings has paid major dividends this season, and Thursday’s comeback is just the latest statement victory in a season full of them.
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