Hawks blow big lead in loss to Warriors

Yet trading baskets is better than giving up scores and not responding. That’s what happened to the Hawks on Sunday night as they blew an 18-point lead in the second half and lost 108-104 to the Warriors.

“We were too comfortable,” Hawks center Al Horford said. “We thought we could just let them make their run and come back and we would still win.”

Instead the Warriors took away what had shaped up to be an easy victory from the Hawks, who must win tonight at the Jazz to salvage a split on their four-game trip. The Hawks have lost 15 straight at Utah.

They seemed to have the Warriors' game under control when they took a 90-73 lead into the fourth quarter. But then their offense went stagnant, the Warriors and their fans came to life, and the Hawks fell apart at the end.

“We just failed to execute coming down the stretch,” Woodson said. “We had a comfortable lead and we stopped doing the things that got us the lead. Defensively, we just shut down.”

The Warriors used a 16-0 runto take a 97-95 lead with 5:15 to play. The Hawks went ahead 104-102 on Joe Johnson’s 29-foot 3-pointer.

Atlanta still had that lead and the ball when Monta Ellis took it from Johnson and scored a on a layup for a 104-104 tie. Horford missed a jumper on the next possession and the ball went out of bounds off the Warriors.

Hawks guard Jamal Crawford, however, was called for a technical foul, and the Warriors made the free throw for a 105-104 lead.

“I thought I got pushed under the basket,” Crawford said. “He (the official) didn’t think so. I voiced my frustration and got the technical.”

Crawford had a chance to make amends when he was wide open for a corner 3-pointer on a pass from Johnson. He missed, the Warriors rebounded and Ellis made two free throws for a 107-104 lead.

Josh Smith missed a potential tying 3-pointer for the Hawks, sending them to a dispiriting defeat.

“It’s a tough loss,” Woodson said. “We are trying to stay at the top of the division. We are trying to stay .500 or better on the road, and now we have slipped under .500. We have some ground to make up.”

In the third quarter the Hawks finally clamped down on defense after the Warriors shot 52 percent from the field in the first half. Stephen Curry and Ellis combined for 31 points and the Warriors had 16 fastbreak points and 30 points in the paint.

The Hawks still managed a 52-51 halftime lead by attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line, where they made 11 of 14 attempts. But they didn’t pull away from the Warriors until they got some stops and took care of the ball.

The Hawks opened the second half with a 22-8 run for 74-59 lead. The Hawks stopped the Warriors on seven of 11 possessions during the run, including two steals and a blocked shot, but couldn’t keep it up.

Woodson had expressed his admiration for Curry, Golden State’s lottery pick, before the game. Curry showed it was deserved by scoring 32 points with nine assists.

Johnson scored 31 and Horford had 26 for the Hawks. Crawford scored 17 points, but was 6 of 15 from the field.