They did it once against the Nets. They will have to do it again.

The Hawks worked their up-tempo offense as good as they have all season in a 109-95 victory over the Nets Wednesday. In that game Nets point guard Deron Williams was imploring his teammates to get back on transition defense as the Hawks ran at every chance.

“I wouldn’t call it a sense of relief, it was certainly welcomed to see that we do have the ability to play like that,” Drew said Thursday of the win that was just the Hawks’ second in eight games. “The big question is, and the challenge that I’m going to put out to me guys is, to big like that every night. I’m not talking about making shots. I’m talking about playing at that pace, getting up and down the floor the way we did. Clearly, our fast break was as good last night as it has been all right.”

The rematch is tonight.

Drew said there were two keys to the victory – and they have been an issue during the team’s recent slide. The Hawks made it an emphasis to get the basketball in the hands of their point guards immediately and for everyone else to race, not run, up the court with them. The other guy was ball movement. The Hawks have bogged down into an isolation game recently instead of passing the ball until an open shot is evident.

“The message was we wanted to put the ball in those point guards hands as fast as we can and we didn’t just want to run to lanes, we wanted to race to lanes,” Drew said. “And we did that. The other thing we made a strong point of emphasis is not letting the ball stick. The ball hits your hands and if there is nothing there right away, move it. Teams are going to defend your actions because the scout you, the know everything you are going to do. We still explore our options but we things break down, do something – go into another pick-and-roll, go to a dribble handoff, run a flare. We put a strong emphasis on constant ball movement and the ball not sticking.”

Point guard Jeff Teague said to a certain extent he took the team’s recent struggles personally. While Drew promised lineup changes following the Hawks team-worst loss in Chicago, the coach said he wasn’t going to change his guard rotation. He did want to get center Zaza Pachulia on the floor for his energy level and big body to put on Nets center Brook Lopez early in the game.

“I feel as the point guard, you go as your guards go because they are the leaders on the floor,” Teague said. “They take most of the criticism when things start going wrong, lineup changes usually start with the point guard. I just pride myself on trying to get the team going and get better every day.”

So, the Hawks did it once. But how to they do it again? And again?

“Why did it take until Game 38?” Drew asked. “Sometimes it just takes that long for things to click in, particularly on a group with so many new faces, with the style that we want to play. I’ve said it from Day One, that is how we have to play. What did we do a little differently (Wednesday) night? We made a conscious effort of really getting that ball to our point guards.”

Teague said that style is the blueprint for success.

The Hawks know it. Can they repeat it?

* I will update the blog with lineup information, injury news, etc. once I arrive in Brooklyn.