Depleted Hawks steal victory from free-throw line
The injury bug keeps biting the Hawks – and it has teeth.
The Hawks bit back.
The Hawks faced the Nuggets without Dwight Howard, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kyle Korver Friday night.
Paul Millsap hit a pair of free throws with six seconds left as the Hawks defeated the Nuggets 109-108 at the Pepsi Center erasing an eight-point deficit. They scored the game’s final eight points from the free-throw line.
The Hawks scored seven straight points from the free-throw line to pull within a point at 108-107 with 42.8 seconds remaining. The Hawks got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession. Millsap was fouled and made his two attempts.
The Nuggets’ Wilson Chandler missed a layup attempt at the buzzer.
The Hawks (15-15) have won five of the past eight games, including four on the road.
The Nuggets (12-18) took a seven-point lead, 100-93, with 4:09 remaining. The Hawks got as close as two points, 102-100, on a 3-pointer by Mike Muscala with 2:45 remaining. The Nuggets scored the next six points for some separation.
Dennis Schroder led five double-digit scorers for the Hawks with a game-high 27 points, his 15th straight such scoring effort. The Hawks also got double digits from Millsap (18), Muscala (13), Thabo Sefolosha (12) and Kris Humphries (10).
Dino Gallinari led the Nuggets with 21 points.
The Nuggets took a 55-51 lead into intermission after the Hawk survived a poor shooting start to the second quarter. They missed eight of their first 10 shots and trailed by as many as nine points.
The Nuggets pushed their lead to 10 points, 69-59, in the third quarter. The Hawks answered with a 20-6 run to re-take the lead. Overall, they ended the quarter on a 23-13 run and the teams entered the final quarter tied 82-82.
About the Author
Chris Vivlamore is the sports editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has served as reporter and editor at the AJC since 2003.
