San Antonio —- Until they learn how to maintain their composure, take care of the basketball and focus for more than five minutes at a time, fleeting moments of success are all that the Hawks can hope for this season.

They had several such moments here Monday night, dominating the world champion San Antonio Spurs early, only to watch it all fall apart after halftime in an 89-74 loss at AT&T Center.

A second straight game with 20-plus turnovers all but guaranteed the Hawks wouldn't escape with a win, no matter how good they looked with that early 11-point lead.

Rather than end their five-game Western Conference road trip with a flourish, the Hawks limp home today with a 1-4 mark from their journey and a 22-32 record overall.

The Hawks stayed close to the end, benefiting from the Spurs' game-long shooting woes. But the Hawks struggled just as much shooting the ball and continued to turn over the ball relentlessly (23 for 23 points for the Spurs).

The Spurs didn't take their first lead, 39-37, until Manu Ginobili converted a layup with 9:07 to play in the third quarter. But they officially snatched control of this game away from the Hawks then. They built the lead to 51-41 with 3:54 to play in the quarter, and the game was essentially over.

The Hawks had no answers for the adjustments the Spurs made, namely using energy guys Kurt Thomas and Robert Horry to combat the Hawks' swarming crew of Josh Smith, Al Horford and Marvin Williams that moved a step faster than Tim Duncan (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Fabricio Oberto, who would have preferred to pound the Hawks inside.

Mike Bibby's shooting woes didn't help the cause. The starting point guard missed his first six shots of the game and didn't score until he tipped in an Al Horford miss with 2:26 to play in the third quarter.

He finished his night 1-for-11 from the floor, including a 0-for-5 showing from beyond the 3-point line.

Smith didn't fare much better, finishing with six points on 2-for-12 shooting, adding 12 rebounds, four assists and eight turnovers.

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting and added five rebounds and five assists. But he was far too careless with the ball as well, piling up six turnovers of his own.

After leading for the entire first half, the Hawks surrendered the first seven points of the second half as the Spurs tied the game at 37.

They'd already thrown their best shots at the Spurs and the home team knew it, going straight at the heart of the Hawks' defense to start the second half.

Had the Hawks been able to exit the building at halftime with their 37-30 lead being sufficient for the night, they'd have done it in a heartbeat.

They worked the Spurs over on both ends of the floor in the first half. A 10-for-34 (.294) shooting effort from the Spurs had as much to do with their misfiring as it did with the Hawks' aggressive defense, which also yielded an uncharacteristic 11 turnovers from the Spurs that the Hawks turned into 11 points.