Hawks run out of gas against Nets

East Rutherford, N.J. — Undersized, understaffed and out of gas.

That’s the way the Hawks wrapped up their four-game road trip Friday night in New Jersey, like rude house guests tired of being on the road and worn down a bit from their travels.

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AP

New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris, left, strips the ball from Atlanta Hawks’ Solomon Jones.

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Bill Kostroun/AP

Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford, right, battles for the ball with New Jersey Nets’ Vince Carter.

BY THE NUMBERS

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The Nets handed them their second consecutive loss, 115-108 before a louder-than-it looked crowd of 15,039 at Izod Center.

Despite leading by three, 76-73, at the start of the fourth quarter, the Hawks simply couldn’t keep pace with Devin Harris, Vince Carter as they powered the Nets during the final stages of the game after 7-foot rookie center Brook Lopez dominated the Hawks early.

Harris finished with 30 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Carter flirted with a triple-double as well, with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Lopez added a season-high 25 points, 18 before halftime, and nine rebounds for the 3-5 Nets, who’ll travel to Atlanta for tonight’s rematch.

Not even a furious second-half scoring flurry from Joe Johnson — he scored 30 of his 32 points after halftime, including 21 in the fourth quarter — could rescue the Hawks (6-2).

“I thought we were very lethargic to start the game,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “We let Lopez establish himself down low, and he got going and he was a load. We couldn’t control him and the kid [fellow rookie Ryan] Anderson]. We didn’t count on them coming out and playing big like they did.”

The Hawks began the week with a comeback victory in Oklahoma City on Sunday night. They tacked on another comeback Tuesday night in Chicago.

They lost a thriller in Boston on Wednesday night, Paul Pierce spoiling their unblemished season with a 20-footer with half a second to play in the game.

And the physical and emotional toll of that rematch against the world champions, the team the Hawks battled for seven games in the first round of the playoffs last spring, was evident afterward.

So they needed every bit of rest they could get by Thursday, knowing full well that they would have to face the Nets twice in a 24-hour span.

“Listen, I thought we played well in spurts,” Woodson said, “but we were too cool in spurts as well, thinking we were just going to turn it on and try to steal a win. I have to stress to these guys that there is not a team in this league that can’t beat you. Every team in this league can beat you if you don’t come ready to play.”

While they weren’t anywhere near as sharp on defense Friday as they had been in road wins in Orlando and New Orleans earlier this season, and certainly not as sharp as their coach demands, the Hawks were still strong enough to control the game at times in the second half.

But with the game waiting for someone to take control midway through the fourth quarter, Harris and Carter did just that, combining for 28 of the Nets’ 42 points in the quarter.

“We just didn’t keep our man in front of us,” Johnson said. “And granted, when we did, they made a lot of tough shots. They shot a lot of free throws, too. But their stars led them down the stretch. Vince and Devin Harris, those guys just pretty much tried to take over. If they weren’t shooting free throws, they were knocking down jump shots. I can’t take anything from them. They played a great game.”

The Nets had a huge advantage from the free-throw line, 39 attempts to the Hawks’ 23, with Carter and Harris combining for more attempts (28) than the Hawks overall.

Mike Bibby ran into foul trouble. He was 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line and finished with 12 points but played only 26 minutes. Marvin Williams and Flip Murray each added 21 points in the losing effort.

“You saw the game,” Bibby said. “They got to the free-throw line a lot. They outscored us by 15 there, and that hurt. But in the end they just played harder than us.”