Atlanta Hawks survive, take 3-2 series lead over Brooklyn Nets

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

In its most important game of the season, the Atlanta Hawks emerged with a 107-97 home win over the Brooklyn Nets in Game Five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks now lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 with the next contest taking place at Brooklyn on Friday night.

Five Hawks scored in double-figures led by DeMarre Carroll’s career playoff-high 24 points. He also had seven rebounds and three assists in the victory. Al Horford posted a double-double with 20 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, which was one-short of his career high in boards.

Overall, Atlanta shot 48.2 percent from the field, making 13 three-pointers. The Hawks outrebounded the Nets 43-35.

“The thing that stands out to me is the competitive nature of the group collectively and a lot of guys individually,” Hawks’ head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “That’s what we need going forward.”

Alan Anderson scored a team-high 23 points off the bench for the Nets who shot 47.4 percent overall in the loss, making 10 three-pointers.

“It was a heck of a basketball game,” Nets’ head coach Lionel Hollins said. “In the last couple of minutes, they just made more plays than us, but I’m proud of our guys and how we fought and scratched and clawed to get back in the game. We competed very hard.”

Trailing 82-70 heading into the fourth quarter, the Nets scored the first seven points of the quarter, cutting the Hawks lead to 82-77 with 9:46 left in the game.

A Horford layup stopped the run and made the score 84-77. Paul Millsap’s three-pointer from the right corner pushed Atlanta’s margin to 87-82 with 6:06 left in the game. Millsap had 10 points and six rebounds.

Jarrett Jack scored the next 10 points for the Nets and got Brooklyn within one, trailing 90-89. Jack had a 18 points off the bench. However, consecutive baskets by Teague on a three-pointer over Jack and a Carroll layup make the score 95-89 in favor of Atlanta with four minutes left.

The Nets continued their comeback push and a Joe Johnson three-pointer had the score at 97-95 with 2:11 left in the game. Johnson scored 18 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Atlanta responded with a jumper on the top of the key by Horford and a drive-by layup from Teague on consecutive possessions to increase the lead again to 101-95 with 1:07 to go to seal the victory.

Atlanta jumped out an early 16-8 lead midway through the first quarter with an improved flow to the offense, forcing the Nets to call a timeout. The Hawks shot 70 percent from the field to start the game. The Hawks continued the strong play and took a 33-16 lead into the second quarter. Atlanta shot 58 percent from the field in the first quarter and made four three-pointers while Brooklyn was at 33% and missed all three three-pointer attempts.

The Nets started the second quarter on an 11-0 run to cut their deficit to 35-25. A layup by Carroll ended the run. Atlanta regained control of the contest and took a 53-44 halftime lead into the locker room

Carroll had a game-high 19 first-half points, going seven for 10 from the field. Jeff Teague and Horford each had eight. Teague finished the game with 20 points and a game-high 8 assists. Overall, the Hawks shot 46 percent from the field through the first two quarters and made six three-pointers.

Anderson’s 16 points paced the Nets in the first half while Brook Lopez had 10 points. Lopez had 18 points at the end of the game. Brooklyn shot 43 percent in the first half and made four three-pointers.

Teague rolled his right ankle midway through the third quarter but returned to the game several minutes later after examination in the locker room.

Both teams played an even third quarter with Atlanta taking an 82-70 lead into the fourth quarter.