Atlanta Hawks best Golden State Warriors, 124-116 (2/6/15)

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

In a battle between the two best teams in the NBA, the Atlanta Hawks emerged with a 124-116 home victory over the the Golden State Warriors on Friday night at Philips Arena.

The Hawks (42-9) have now won 35 of their last 38 games and 11 consecutive contests at home. The 124 points are the most points that the Warriors (39-9) have given up all season.

All five starters for the Atlanta Hawks scored in double-figures led by a team-high 23 points from Jeff Teague who also had a team-high seven assists. Al Horford posted a double-double with a team-high 14 points and 12 points while Paul Millsap scored 21. Mike Scott scored 17 points off the bench in 17 minutes of play.

Overall, Atlanta shot 49.4 percent from the field and made 15 three-pointer which was one shy of a season-high. The Hawks also made a season-high 33 free throws out of 37 attempts in the win.

“A game like tonight is where you learn more about yourself,” Hawks’ head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Our bigs do so much for us defensively. What they (did) out on the perimeter to help our guards made life more difficult for opposing wings and point guards is to be commended. It was a great atmosphere.

Klay Thompson had a game-high 29 points in the loss for Golden State while Stephen Curry had 26. Draymond Green grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds and scored 12 points for a double-double.

Overall, Golden State attempted 103 field goal attempts which is the most Atlanta has allowed an opponent this season. The Warriors finished the game shooting 45.6 percent from the field and made 12 three-pointers.

With the score tied at 52-all at halftime, Atlanta had a torrid start to the third quarter, going on a 12-3 run to take a 64-55 lead at the 9:06 mark. Each starter accept for DeMarre Carroll scored during that run. Carroll did finish the game with 12 points.

Golden State made a comeback and a three-pointer by Curry with 4:32 left in the third quarter tied the score at 74-all. Behind two consecutive three-pointers by Scott, Atlanta finished the third quarter on a 15-11 run to take an 89-85 lead into the fourth quarter.

Atlanta scored a season-high 37 third-quarter points.

The Hawks started the fourth quarter on a 9-5 run paced by two consecutive three-pointers by Dennis Schroder, making the score 98-90. He finished the game with nine points and a team-high seven assists.

The Warriors continued to claw back into the contest and a layup by Green cut the Hawks lead to 102-99 with less than seven minutes left.

Atlanta took control of the contest for good with a 9-4 run culminating with a three-pointer by Kyle Korver at the 3:30 mark of the fourth quarter, making the score 112-103 in favor of the home team. Korver finished the game with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Both teams had a solid defensive start in the first quarter but Golden State emerged with a 25-21 lead heading into the second quarter. Atlanta shot 35 percent from the field in the first quarter while Golden State was at 46 percent.

Both teams continued their stellar play throughout the second quarter and the score was tied at 52-52 heading into halftime.

Korver had a team-high 11 points in the first half for Atlanta while Millsap had 10. Kent Bazemore scored nine out of his 11 total points in the first half off the bench for the Hawks and Horford grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Overall, the Hawks shot 37 percent from the field, making seven out of 17 three-pointers.

Thompson scored a game-high 13 points for Golden State in the first half and Curry had seven. The Warriors shot 46 percent through the first two quarters, making four out of 13 three-pointers.