Sophia Michaels
The Hawks-Spurs game in San Antonio on Friday night started easily enough. With Vince Carter winding down his historic career at the end of the season, the Spurs took the opportunity to honor the 42-year-old legend with a tribute video prior to tip-off that even featured one of his best poster jams at the expense of Tim Duncan.
But with their 121-120 victory, Atlanta went on to make some history of their own. It’s a bit of an understatement to say that the Hawks have been through something of a dry spell when it comes to winning in San Antonio. In fact, they haven’t won there since February 15 of 1997.
To put that into context, Kevin Huerter, whose game-sealing three-pointer secured the victory, wasn’t even born yet the last time Atlanta won a game in San Antonio. In fact, none of the Hawks’ five starters were alive yet.
The Hawks beat the Spurs at home for the first time since 1997.
None of Atlanta’s starting 5 were born the last time the Hawks won in San Antonio 👶 #SCFacts pic.twitter.com/1J2q7aiXQx
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 18, 2020
Huerter finished with 18 points on the night and was 4-of-10 from downtown, but it was Trae Young who led the Hawks with 31 points, nine assists, and five rebounds as the Hawks were able to overcome a 14-point deficit to break the streak.
To add even more context, the losing streak had lasted for Vince Carter’s entire record-breaking career, and it’s accurate to say that the Hawks didn’t win in San Antonio until Carter joined the team. Until Friday, the Hawks’ losing streak was old enough to drink.
There have been two U.S. wars, the invention of social media, the three-point revolution, and countless other historical milestones in between. Let’s hope their next streak is less dubious than this one.
Written by: Uproxx
