Newell's late scoring lifts Hawks past Spurs 123-116 in preseason

A Late Surge Secures Road Win

The Atlanta Hawks overcame a sluggish start to beat the San Antonio Spurs 123-116 in a preseason game on Thursday at Frost Bank Center. The exhibition result leaves Atlanta 1-1 in the preseason and San Antonio 0-1.

San Antonio controlled the early going, scoring 39 points in the first quarter to Atlanta's 20. The Hawks won the second quarter 42-30, but the Spurs still held a 69-62 halftime lead. Atlanta then outscored San Antonio 61-47 across the final two quarters.

Key Performances

Asa Newell led the Hawks with 16 points off the bench, matching Dylan Harper for the most in the game. Newell scored 11 of those points in the final six minutes, including the alley-oop layup that put Atlanta ahead for good at 110-109 and a string of free throws after that. He finished 5 of 6 from the line.

Kingston Flemings ran the offense with 15 points and five assists, and Dyson Daniels grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

For the Spurs, Harper had 16 points and four assists. Keldon Johnson collected seven rebounds.

Game Flow and Turning Points

San Antonio scored first when Stephon Castle finished a running layup set up by Harper. Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell kept the Spurs rolling with a run of outside shots, and the lead reached 23 points early in the second quarter.

Atlanta chipped away behind its bench in the second quarter, though Julian Champagnie's 3-pointer with 11 seconds left kept the Spurs in front by seven at the break.

The Hawks trimmed the gap to two after three quarters and took over late in the fourth. RayJ Dennis added two baskets and four assists off the bench during the closing stretch.

Final Records

The game drew 18,354 fans to Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

Sources

ESPN