Hawks hold off Nets for needed win

Dennis Schroder, coming off a second-half benching in a loss to the Warriors Monday, scored a game-high 31 points. The Hawks also got 24 point from Paul Millsap and 16 points from Tim Hardaway Jr. Dwight Howard had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

The Hawks (35-29) won for the third time in the past nine games.

The Nets (11-52) lost for the 19th time in the past 21 games as they have struggled all season. Sean Kilpatrick led the Nets with 27 points.

The Hawks led by as many as seven points, 100-93, late in the fourth quarter. The Nets charged and got within two points, 102-100, before Ersan Ilyasova scored off an offensive rebound with 52 seconds remaining. The Nets got a dunk from Brook Lopez to pull back with two points and had the ball following a Hawks miss on the ensuing possession. However, Schroder chased down Kilpatrick for a steal with 22 seconds remaining. Schroder made two free throws with 15.5 seconds left.

Jeremy Lin made a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to make it a one-point game, 106-105, Hardaway made two free throws with 11 seconds left. Lin missed a 3-pointer and Schroder ended the game with two free throws with 2.2 seconds left.

Hardaway extended two streaks in the Hawks win. He scored in double-figures for the 19th straight game and had a 3-pointer in 16 straight games.

The Nets led by as many as nine points in the first half and took a 50-46 advantage into intermission. Schroder had 17 points to lead the Hawks.

The Hawks led once, 23-22, late in the first quarter. They tied the game five times at various times of the next two quarters but didn’t take a lead until Schroder scored on a layup with 5:17 left in the third quarter for a 67-65 advantage. The layup was part of a 10-0 Hawks’ run to take 72-65 lead. Hardaway ended the run with an alley-oop dunk.

The Hawks took an 81-80 advantage headed into the fourth quarter.