The Hawks rose to the level of their competition Tuesday — in a big way.
The Hawks defeated the Clippers 109-102 in a game with major postseason seeding implications for both teams in a playoff atmosphere at Philips Arena. Joe Johnson’s 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining brought the home crowd to its collective feet. His desperation 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining, with the shot clock expiring, was the final dagger.
The Hawks (39-26) moved a game away from clinching home-court advantage in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Celtics. They need only a win in Thursday’s regular-season finale against the Mavericks or a Celtics loss against the Heat on Tuesday night or the Bucks on Thursday.
The Hawks, winners of eight of their past 11, avenged a March loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. They have now won three straight against the Clippers at Philips Arena.
The Clippers (40-25) failed in an attempt to tie the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead and the third seed in the Western Conference playoff race. They lost for only the second time in the past eight games and are 14-4 since March 24.
Johnson, who became the sixth leading scorer in franchise history, led the Hawks with 28 points. Jeff Teague added 19 points, including the final six points from the free-throw line. Josh Smith had 18 points.
Blake Griffin led the Clippers, who battled back from a 13-point deficit and got as close as four points in the fourth quarter, with a game-high 36 points. Chris Paul added 34 points.
The Hawks closed the third quarter on a 15-2 run to take a 85-72 lead going into the final quarter. Smith scored 10 points in the quarter, including a crowd-raising dunk off a Marvin Williams miss. Teague added nine points in the third and blocked a Paul layup attempt. Teague later sent a Caron Butler shot four rows deep into the crowd in the fourth quarter.
The Hawks led 52-50 at the half by outscoring the Clippers by seven points in the second quarter. Williams came off the bench and scored 11 points during the quarter, nine in an 18-4 Hawks run. A key defensive play during the run came with Ivan Johnson blocked a Nick Young dunk attempt that started a fast break.
Williams, who scored 29 points Sunday against the Knicks, said he was determined to be more aggressive in an effort to get going early.
Johnson scored 15 first-half points for the Hawks, who led by as many as eight points in the opening half. Johnson moved past Kevin Willis on the all-time scoring list.
Griffin did most of the damage for the Clippers early. He scored 22 first-half points, tying the Thunders’ Kevin Durant for the most points scored in a half against the Hawks this season. Griffin scored the Clippers first eight points of the game and 16 of their first 21 points. Paul added 14 first-half points.
While the Hawks have shot over 50 percent in their past three games, coach Larry Drew was more concerned with his team’s defensive effort — especially down the stretch and into the playoffs.
“I like the fact that offensively the numbers have been good,” Drew said before the game. “My concern will always be with defense. I don’t think I could ever be satisfied defensively. There are times when we’ve show major improvements in areas and times where we fall back into a lapse of defending.”
