Hawks down Suns with huge fourth-quarter comeback (updated)

Dennis Schroder drew the admiration – and the gentle correction – from his Hawks coaches and teammates.

The 21-year-old Schroder had a dunk and stare down of the Suns’ Archie Goodwin that led to double technical fouls. The move was a spark as the Hawks erased an 11-point second-half deficit with a huge fourth quarter en route to a 96-87 victory over the Suns at US Airways Center Friday night.

The Hawks outscored the Suns 31-14 in the decisive final period to snatch the victory.

With the Hawks trailing by four points, Schroder took a long pass from Kent Bazemore following a rebound. With 9:28 left, Schroder dunked while being chased by Goodwin. Schroder stood over Goodwin after the dunk. Goodwin responded by getting up and throwing an arm at Schroder. Order was quickly restored but each player was assessed a technical. The play pulled the Hawks within two points, 75-73.

“Everybody said I pushed him down,” Schroder said. “I just tried to dunk it and I raised my hand and he fell. But I looked at him. I think that changed the whole game. It was great for us

“I learned something. It was a great situation and it changed the game but next time I have to keep going and don’t look at him.”

The fireworks were part of an 21-6 Hawks run to open the fourth. The Hawks erased the 11-point deficit and took an 86-79 lead on back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and Bazemore.

“I think Dennis kind of looked at him a little bit,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Not much but enough. So I think Dennis is growing and learning so much. As soon as one of his teammates said you can’t look for even a half-second or something can happen. I think the refs did a good job. I don’t think Dennis did a whole lot but it was probably a good decision.”

The Hawks (51-14, 21-10 road) ended a two-game losing streak to the Suns with the come-from-behind dramatics.

The victory reduced the Hawks magic numbers to three to clinch the Southeast Division and six to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with 17 games remaining.

Millsap led six Hawks in double figures with a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds. Korver (14), Al Horford (12) and DeMarre Carroll (11), Schroder (11) and Bazemore (11) were the others. Korver made his 1,700th career 3-pointer.

“I think our defense stepped up big time,” Millsap said. “Then on the other end, we made some shots and we moved the basketball and trusted each other. I think a lot of it was we figured them out a little bit.”

The Hawks shot 60 percent in the fourth quarter, including 5 of 7 3-pointers. They entered the final period having made only 3 of 11 long-distance shots.

The Suns (34-33) were led by Eric Bledsoe with 21 points.

The Suns took a 50-48 advantage into intermission after a fast-paced first half. The Hawks led by as many as nine points in the second quarter, 39-30, but lost the advantage on a 10-0 Suns run. The Suns grabbed the advantage at the break with a 5-0 run to end the half.

Millsap had 13 points at the half for the Hawks.

Korver scored to open the third quarter and tie the game. However, the Suns answered with an 11-0 run to grab a double-digit lead. The Hawks got as close as five before another Suns’ run gave them a 73-65 lead going into the final quarter.