Oakland —- The Hawks should have known better than to think a measly 23-point lead was enough.

That's normally 10 minutes of work for the Golden State Warriors, especially when they're playing at Oracle Arena, where fans are used to watching the home team come from behind to win games.

Since their star performance in the first round of the playoffs last spring, when they upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks, Baron Davis, Monta Ellis and the boys have made habit of turning routs into stunning comeback thrillers.

But the Hawks had a few tricks of their own to turn Friday, holding off the Warriors 117-110 with heavy doses of the bench crew of Salim Stoudamire, Josh Childress and Jeremy Richardson to go along with stellar performances from the starting backcourt of Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson.

The Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak in the process, improving to 1-3 on their five-game Western Conference road trip and at least temporarily boosting their sagging playoff hopes by improving to 22-30.

They won't get much time to celebrate the victory, having to play at Utah tonight. But for the Hawks these days, any victory is cause for celebration.

Johnson finished with a team-high 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Bibby had 17 points and seven assists, outplaying Davis (35 points) and Ellis (26) in a game the Hawks led from start to finish.

The Hawks can thank Stoudamire and Childress, particularly, for their contributions.

Stoudamire scored a season-high 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, logging a season-high 23 minutes after playing only the final minute in the Hawks' previous game. Childress added 13 points and nine rebounds and played point guard for all but the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, when Bibby returned to finish things off.

It was a much-needed group effort for a worn-down Hawks team that had lost 18 times in their previous 25 tries.

Not only were their spirits sagging, they were smarting from the news that back home their coach, Mike Woodson, was being savaged in the media and on message boards.

If they felt the pressure, they certainly didn't show it, because they played as fearlessly as they have in weeks, matching the Warriors' intense, up-tempo style from the start.

Even when Warriors coach Don Nelson turned his troops loose after halftime, the Hawks bent but didn't break; the Warriors never got closer than five points in the second half.

The Hawks' first-quarter tear was their best 24 minutes since their victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 6 at Philips Arena.

Their lead at halftime was 68-50 and could have been even bigger if Davis hadn't matched Bibby bucket for bucket in the second quarter.

Bibby had 15 points in the first half —- 13 in the second quarter on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor, 3-for-3 from beyond the 3-point line. He also had six assists, besting Johnson in that category by one while Johnson's 17 points before halftime was a team-high.

But Davis was up to his usual swashbuckling ways. He scored 13 of his 19-first half points in the second quarter, taking advantage of the Hawks' second-unit defenders while Bibby and Johnson rested.