The Hawks made it tougher than it had to be.
They trailed the injury-ravaged Pelicans by 12 points in the first half but raced back to record a 106-98 victory Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
The Hawks (8-2) swept the season series with the Pelicans (1-7), who were without two starters (star Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday) and three regular rotation players.
Three key players
Al Horford: He had a game-high 26 points, including 20 in the first half. He was 11 of 15 from the field and added eight rebounds.
Paul Millsap: He put up 19 points, including seven in the third quarter, and had two three-point plays late in the fourth quarter.
Jeff Teague: He recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists going against his former Wake Forest backcourt mate Ish Smith, who had 18 points and eight assists.
Five observations
Second-half surge
The Hawks climbed back into a game they trailed in by double-digits in the first half with a solid third quarter. They regained the lead by outscoring the Pelicans 29-19 in the quarter. They pushed their advantage to as many as 14 points in the fourth.
Millsap strong
The power forward continues to be the Hawks’ best and steadiest player. He finished with a double-double of 19 points and 16 rebounds. He has scored in double figures in all 10 games this season.
Horford extends range
Horford set his career-high with four 3-pointers in a game. He also needed just 10 games to set career-highs in 3-point field goals (12) and attempts (36) in a season. Horford set career highs of 11 and 36 last season.
Short-handed
The injury-depleted Pelicans were down to just eight healthy players – and missing star Davis who scored a career-high 43 points against the Hawks last week. Still the Pelicans led the Hawks by nine at halftime. The Hawks missed a chance to put the weary Pelicans away early. The Pelicans only played nine players, leaving newly signed Jimmer Fredette on the bench.
3-point barrage
The Pelicans led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter and took a 56-47 lead into intermission. They used the long-range shot to build the advantage. The Pelicans were 11 of 19 from the field in the second quarter, including 8 of 11 from 3-point range. All but three of their field goals came from behind the arc. The Pelicans’ season-high for 3-pointers in a game was 14, done in their previous game. At the half both teams had 21 field goals and still the Hawks trailed by nine points.
