Jalen Johnson scored 30 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Brooklyn Nets 124-121 on Saturday at State Farm Arena, overcoming a slow start to win their fourth straight game. The Hawks improved to 7-4 while the Nets fell to 2-7.
Atlanta trailed by as many as 17 points in the first quarter after Brooklyn opened the game on a 25-9 run built around hot shooting from Nolan Traore and Michael Porter Jr. The Hawks answered by outscoring the Nets 39-33 in the second quarter and 36-26 in the fourth, turning a sluggish start into a three-point win.
Key Moments: How The Hawks Rallied
Brooklyn built its largest lead of the night, 17 points, in the opening quarter as Traore scored 19 points off the bench and Julius Randle added a three-pointer during the surge. The Hawks trailed 37-27 after one quarter.
Atlanta’s defense tightened as the game progressed, forcing 22 Nets turnovers that turned into 28 points. The Hawks scored 20 fast-break points to Brooklyn’s four and outscored the Nets 70-48 in the paint, numbers that reflect how Atlanta erased the early deficit. Brooklyn’s only lead change of the game came in that opening stretch, and the Hawks never trailed again after seizing control in the second half.
Top Performers
Johnson led all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting to go with seven rebounds and six assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 points, and Okongwu finished with 16 points, four blocks and a plus-15 rating in 30 minutes. Dyson Daniels recorded a near triple-double with nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
For Brooklyn, Porter Jr. scored a team-high 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Day’Ron Sharpe posted 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-level 13 assists, and Randle added 19 points and eight assists. Traore came off the bench for 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes, part of a first-quarter surge that briefly had the Nets in control.
What It Means
Atlanta’s win extended its winning streak to four games and kept the Hawks atop the Southeast Division standings at 7-4. The Hawks also took a 1-0 lead in the season series between the two teams. Brooklyn has now dropped six of its last seven games and sits last in the Atlantic Division at 2-7, five and a half games back of division-leading Philadelphia.
The Hawks forced 22 Nets turnovers into 28 points and scored 20 fast-break points to Brooklyn’s 4, along with 70 points in the paint to the Nets’ 48. Those edges overcame Atlanta shooting just 26% from three and being outrebounded 53-40.
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