History.
The Hawks set a franchise record with their 15th consecutive victory after another dominant performance in one remarkable season.
Atlanta used a 13-4 run to start the fourth quarter en route to a 103-93 victory over Oklahoma City Friday in front of a sold-out Philips Arena crowd.
This was no ordinary opponent. The Hawks defeated a full-strength Thunder team for another victory over the vaunted Western Conference. The Hawks are 11-2 against the West.
The Hawks (36-8, 19-3) have won 29 out of 31 games. This time it was the Thunder that found itself on the losing end of a 10-plus point deficit. The Hawks have led by double digits in all 15 games on their current streak and are 31-1 when leading by 10 or more at any point this season.
The Hawks bested the 14-game win streak set by the 1993-94 team.
“I’m happy for our guys to have success,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said of the franchise record. “It’s a carry-over from the work on the court and the work in the film room before practice and after practice. Our guys deserve the opportunity to do something. We just have to keep doing it. We have to keep working in practice. We have to keep doing all those things and keep our focus there. That’s how we’re going to get better. That’s how we’ll be at our best.”
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with a double-double of 22 points, including 11 in the decisive fourth quarter, and 10 rebounds.
Al Horford also had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He tied Dikembe Mutombo for ninth on the Hawks’ all-time list with 181 double-doubles. The Hawks got plenty of other contributions. Jeff Teague had 17 points and nine rebounds and DeMarre Carroll and Dennis Schroder each scored 13.
“Oh no, you can’t have burden winning,” Horford said when asked if there is pressure from the run of success.
The Thunder (22-21) had a four-game win streak snapped. Russell Westbrook finished with 22 points, but only nine after the first quarter. Kevin Durant had 21 points on 8 of 22 shooting.
The Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak to the Thunder.
“We weren’t running our offense,” DeMarre Carroll said of the Hawks’ slow start that including 12 first-half turnovers. “We were trying to look for mismatches. You have to give them credit. They threw a different lineup out there. They really had us thinking. We came out and said we were going to play Hawks basketball.”
The Hawks took a 48-47 lead into intermission. The Hawks’ final two points of the second quarter came on - get this - a Kyle Korver dunk. Much was made of Korver’s one-handed dunk in Wednesday’s win over the Pacers, his first slam in two years and only the 16th of his career. Korver made it two games in a row when he finished a fast break started on a steal by Millsap. That dunk came after Kent Bazemore flushed an alley-oop pass from Carroll to give the Hawks their first lead since the 7:08 mark of the first quarter. Both dunks sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The Thunder led by as many as nine points in the first half. The Hawks closed the second quarter on a 15-6 run to grab the narrow lead.
The Hawks took a 79-75 lead into the final quarter after leading by as many as eight points. A Reggie Jackson 3-pointer at the buzzer pulled the Thunder within three points.
“I didn’t even know what the win streak was until somebody asked me about it the other night,” Korver said. “You always say it. Every game is a new game. Every day is its own day. We are just trying to get better. I’ve never been around a group that just treats it like that. We just come to the gym and expect to work and try to get better. We are having a lot of fun. It’s a joy to come to work.”
The Hawks, 3-0 on a seven-game homestand, host the Timberwolves Sunday. They have sold out six of the past eight games.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Teague said. “I’ve always said if you put a good product on the floor they will come out and support. That is what we are doing now and they are coming out full-throttle. And we appreciate it.”
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