Memphis — Leave it up to the Hawks to turn a 38-point blowout into a nail-biter.

After gashing the Memphis Grizzlies for nearly every second of the first three quarters, the Hawks decided to rest late in the third quarter.

Joe Murphy/Contributor (ENLARGE)

Josh Smith soars in for two of his game-high 26 points.

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Despite allowing the Grizzlies to get as close as 12 points during a furious fourth quarter rally, Josh Smith and Josh Childress made sure the Hawks held on for a 116-99 victory and their fourth straight win.

Childress tipped in a layup to slow down the Grizzlies' momentum from a Rudy Gay-fueled run. The Grizzlies had trailed 101-63 late in the third quarter.

Smith led six players in double figures with 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists, making just about every clutch play imaginable after Hawks coach Mike Woodson reinserted his starters late in the fourth quarter with the Grizzlies charging.

"We had what a [38]-point lead and the second unit laid an egg," Smith said. "We can't have that. We're going to need them the rest of this year and hopefully in the playoffs. And they have to understand that, because there is no way in the world the starters should have to go back out there and finish that game."

Now is not the time for the Hawks' focus to wander. Not with every win tightening their hold on the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

At 34-40, the Hawks lead New Jersey by three games. But just as easily as their lead slipped away against the Grizzlies, that cushion could disappear with one or two bad games.

"This game is a lesson for the remainder of the season," Josh Childress said after scoring 14 points off the bench. "We have to finish games off and we have to finish them off every night during this stretch run. We can't have that kind of slippage again."

The Hawks had no answer for Gay, who led all scorers with 29 points. He sparked a run that saw the Grizzlies score 23 of the first 27 points of the fourth quarter.

"They got crazy hot and we got crazy cold at the same exact time," Marvin Williams said. "It's a good thing Josh was feeling it all night. And the truth is, we play better when he plays better. And he told me on the bus from shootaround this morning that he was going to come out here tonight and bring it against this team. Thank goodness he did that."

The Grizzlies had no answer for Smith or the rest of a Hawks starting unit that outscored their Grizzlies counterparts 93-52.

All five Hawks starters were in double figures by halftime, and their lead was 20 or more points for most of the game up until that mini-collapse in the fourth quarter.

They were so good for so long that Childress scored a layup for the Hawks' 100th point with 2:47 to play in the third quarter.

"Thank God Josh had that boost of energy when we went back in," Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said of the Hawks' ability to bounce back under that pressure. "We made that game a lot closer than it should have been.

"We're in the midst of winning four straight games and trying to make this playoff push and we definitely need every win, so we can't have anybody losing their focus. Not even for a few seconds in a game that you seem to already have in hand."