The Hawks may be on their way back up the standings.
After falling from third to eighth in the Eastern Conference, by losing 14 of 15 games, the Hawks are closing in on the seventh spot.
The Hawks scored a come-from-behind victory over the Bobcats, 97-83, Monday night at Time Warner Cable Arena. They are now 1-1/2 games behind Charlotte for the seventh spot.
The Hawks (30-35, 11-24 road) won for a season-high fourth straight time. The last time the Hawks won four straight was last season, Feb. 22-27, 2013. They have now won 11 straight over Bobcats, all three games this season, and six in a row in Charlotte.
The Hawks used an 11-2 start to the fourth quarter to grab a commanding lead. They led by 17 points when DeMarre Carroll hit a 3-pointer with 6:03 left. The lead would be as many as 18 points before the Bobcats made a mini run.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with a game-high 28 points. Jeff Teague and Pero Antic each had 11 points and Kyle Korver and Mike Scott each had 10 points.
The Bobcats (33-35, 19-15 home) had a four-game win streak snapped and failed to pull their record to .500. Al Jefferson had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bobcats on the day he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He had 24 points and 23 rebounds in loss at Atlanta in December. Kemba Walker added 20 points.
The Hawks used a 13-2 third-quarter run on their way to outscoring the Bobcats 30-16 in the period. They turned a six-point deficit into a nine-point advantage and led 76-68 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats led by as many as 10 points in the first half and took a 52-46 lead into intermission. The Hawks held advantages in shooting percentage (43-40 percent) and rebounding (27-23). The key difference was the Hawks also held an 11-3 lead in turnovers.
The Bobcats used an 18-3 run in the first quarter to take control of the game early. Their lead would be as many as 10 points before the Hawks went on a 12-2 run between the first and second quarters and tied the game at 30-30. The Bobcats pushed their advantage to nine points even as Millsap scored nine of the Hawks’ final 11 points of the first half. He scored the Hawks first eight points of the third quarter for a total of 17 of 19 points.
The Hawks host the Raptors Tuesday.
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