NBA games, as you surely know, are 48 minutes long, and occasionally even longer. And sometimes the fate of the game is decided gradually across those 48 minutes. Other times the outcome is determined more swiftly: over the course of a half, or a quarter, or even a stretch of a few possessions.

Such was the case for the Golden State Warriors in their Saturday night loss against the Atlanta Hawks. From the opening tip until the halftime buzzer, the Dubs went bar for bar with the Hawks, trailing just 63-61 at the mid-game break. And from the 6:15 mark of the third quarter through the end of the game, Golden State outscored their counterparts 44-36.

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But in the 5:45 between those competitive stretches? The Hawks, who have won 12 of their last 13 games, positively blitzed the Warriors, who have lost eight of their last nine. Atlanta took it to the Warriors in every conceivable manner during that eighth of the game, swarming Golden State’s offense, forcing turnovers, flipping those turnovers into easy baskets, flexing their talent, athleticism, and hustle, and outscoring the Dubs 27-5.

It was one of the least competitive stretches of the season for the Warriors. And in the time it took you to prep your second-half snack, a close game had turned into a blowout, and it would never be close again.

Golden State had an impressive first half, all things considered, though we’ve been seeing that with them quite a bit lately. Even without Jalen Johnson, the Hawks had quite a talent advantage over the Warriors, who were once again playing with half their squad in the infirmary. That was made doubly true when Dyson Daniels decided to have a career day shooting the basketball, scoring 15 points in his opening stint and completely taking over. But the Warriors hung tight, and behind a surge from the defense — primarily De’Anthony Melton and Nate Williams — they ended the first quarter with not just momentum, but a 36-35 lead. The offense was clicking, and the defense was starting to show things.

It was a delightfully enjoyable game in the opening minutes of the second quarter, regardless of who you were rooting for. The pace was a fan’s dream, and both offenses were executing as the ball and the cutters moved around the court quickly and gracefully. The Warriors even built up an eight-point lead as the ball flowed and the shots dropped. The game got ugly late in the quarter, though, and not just for the Warriors. The fluid and free-flowing pace of the contest was ground to a halt, as it became a messy, sloppy, physical affair, with fouls on seemingly every possession, and multiple replay reviews. All grace and flow was lost, and as it was, so was Golden State’s lead. Fittingly, the half ended when the Warriors had a defensive breakdown and fouled CJ McCollum with just 0.6 seconds remaining, leading to a pair of go-ahead free throws.

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And then came the dreaded third quarter. It started, not surprisingly, with a turnover courtesy of Gui Santos, then Onyeka Okongwu scored on a third-chance opportunity. Melton then made a layup — the last points the Warriors would see for a while — before McCollum banked in a floater. A Draymond Green turnover led to an easy McCollum basket, and a Steve Kerr timeout just 80 seconds in.

The timeout did nothing. Santos turned the ball over immediately out of the break, and Mouhamed Gueye drained a triple. Green missed a shot, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker responded with a three. Melton tried to fire back with a three of his own, but instead missed, while McCollum successfully accomplished the counter three. Melton followed that up with a turnover, and Green with a shooting foul. A livid Kerr subbed out four players while Alexander-Walker nailed both free throws.

Green got one point back with a free throw of his own, but McCollum — on fire now — answered with a layup. The teams exchanged a few misses, and then Okongwu and Pat Spencer exchanged buckets in the paint.

Finally, one last blitz from the Hawks: another McCollum bucket, another Kerr timeout, another nearly whole line change, another Santos turnover, and, to seal the deal with emphasis, a Gueye put-back dunk.

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At that point it was 90-66, and there was no realistic hope that the Warriors would get back in the game. And, indeed, they didn’t, as Atlanta coasted to a 126-110 win.

Melton led the Warriors with 20 points, while Williams had a career-high 19 on 8-for-10 shooting, and Spencer 18. But the star performances belonged to Atlanta: Daniels had 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals; McCollum netted a highly efficient 23 points; and Gueye ripped down a 16-and-10 double-double, while also blocking three shots.

Fans of revenge were left starved, however. The large deadline deal between the two teams ended up a mere footnote in the one-sided game. Kristaps Porziņģis, who injured his back during Friday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, was unable to suit up against the team he spent the start of the season with. And Jonathan Kuminga, who has shined so far during his brief time with Atlanta, was held completely in check: the former Warriors lottery pick played 22 minutes off the bench, but scored just two points on 1-for-9 shooting, with a pair of turnovers. The third and and final player in the deal, Buddy Hield, only got on the court for the final minutes of garbage time, and provided the lone notable moment from the trio, when he playfully tried to run up the score with a dunk as the buzzer expired — a move that Bob Fitzgerald noted only Hield could pull off, while both sides chuckled.

The Warriors fell to 33-38, as their dreams of being able to play competitive basketball fell even further out of sight. And while the game was a bust, at least Draymond Green was able to provide one highlight…

Never change, Draymond. Never change. Except … you know … in a few ways.