Hawks hold off Nets to remain undefeated

By Michael Cunningham

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This was the first of what figures to be many nights this season when the Hawks need Jeff Teague to be the catalyst.

Hawks shots weren’t falling, the Nets wouldn’t fade away and an ugly home loss before a tough road trip looked possible. So Teague saved the Hawks with his speed, knifing to the basket for scores and serving as their only effective offensive option for long stretches.

Teague kept the Hawks afloat until they could pull out a 105-98 victory Friday night at Philips Arena. The Hawks (3-0) play at Houston on Saturday and then face back-to-back games against Eastern Conference contenders Miami and Chicago on Monday and Tuesday.

Teague scored a team-high 22 points while making nine of 12 shots, and he added six assists.

“I think when I’m playing aggressive, I’m at my best,” Teague said. “Sometimes I miss guys on a couple passes and they talk to me but I think that’s just the way I have to play. When I am sitting out there being casual I think that’s when I’m not ay my best and I think that hurts the team."

Hawks guard Joe Johnson scored 21 points, and reserve center Zaza Pachulia had 11 points and eight rebounds. Former Tucker High star MarShon Brooks, a Nets rookie, scored 21 points but had a couple rough plays at crunch time.

The Hawks had to work much harder to defeat the Nets than they did in their 106-70 victory at New Jersey on Tuesday in the season opener.

Brooks made two free throws to pull New Jersey within 94-92 with 2:52 to go. After Hawks center Al Horford made a free throw, Brooks scored on a fadeaway jump shot over tight defense from Johnson to cut the Hawks’ lead to 95-94.

Teague got the basket on a three-point play to give Atlanta a 98-94 lead, but Nets All-Star Deron Williams responded with a spinning layup with less than a minute to play. Williams missed a reverse layup attempt, leading to Joe Johnson’s driving score around Brooks for a 100-96 Hawks lead with 20.6 seconds to play.

The Nets called timeout to set up an inbound play. Marvin Williams pressured Brooks, who signaled for another timeout, even though the Nets had none remaining.

The Hawks made the technical free throw and got the ball back. Johnson made two free throws to finally finish the Nets.

By the second quarter of Tuesday’s game, the Hawks’ starters were relaxing on the bench and watching the team’s reserves bury the Nets. Three nights later they were on the court wheezing to a six-point halftime lead — and they needed a spinning, 39-foot shot from Williams to do that.

"It was hard, but a win is a win," Pachulia said. "It fees good. We expected them to come out and be aggressive but obviously we didn't have as much energy as last game."

The scoring didn’t come as easily this time for Atlanta, and the Nets didn’t succumb as quietly. Coach Larry Drew figured both developments could happen.

Offense can come and go from night to night, and the Nets were motivated to avoid another blowout loss to the Hawks. Drew believed his players knew what was coming, too, and wouldn’t overlook the Nets.

"One of the toughest things to do, and I've been associated it for a while as a coach and a player, when you have a game like you had against them the first time you have a tendency to let your guard down," Drew said. "That's kind of a human characteristic. I talked to the guys and told them the team we saw in New Jersey was going to be a totally different team tonight.

"We didn't respond as well as I was hoping but I give my guys credit, too, because they hung in there and kept fighting and made plays at the end."

The Nets showed more pride this time, but they needed more than that. The Hawks are the deeper and more talented team, even if it took them until the fourth quarter to show it.

When New Jersey’s Mehmet Okur made a 3-pointer for a 3-2 lead, it was the first time the Hawks trailed this season. New Jersey led 17-12 when two driving scores by Teague started a 12-2 Atlanta run.

Pachulia scored six consecutive points for a 30-23 Atlanta lead in the second quarter. The Hawks led 43-37 after Williams’ halftime lead, but they seemed to lack the same intensity and sharpness as during the season opener.