Perhaps the Rockets enjoyed their double-digit lead a little too much. And now the Hawks can enjoy the fact they’ve clinched a playoff berth.
Former Hawk Josh Smith hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and raised a finger to his mouth to quiet the Philips Arena crowd. It was one of two straight long-distance shots to give the Rockets a 15-point lead with 10:32 remaining.
The Hawks called time out.
Smith and another former Hawk Jason Terry used the break to further incite the crowd.
Oops.
The Hawks responded with a 32-8 run to end the game and steal a 104-96 victory Tuesday night. According to the NBA and Elias Sports Bureau, the victory clinched a playoff spot for the Hawks, their eighth straight trip to the postseason.
“It was chippy and that was what really got us going,” DeMarre Carroll said. “If they were quiet and just did what they did, they wouldn’t have woke up Jeff Teague, they wouldn’t have woke up myself, they wouldn’t have woke up Paul (Millsap). I think that’s when it got chippy and Josh Smith was doing all this.”
The Hawks (48-12, 28-4) won their fifth straight game. The team with the NBA’s best record increased its lead in the Eastern Conference to 10 games over the Raptors. The sights are now set on the No. 1 seed in the conference.
The Hawks also swept the season series with the Rockets, 2-0, with their third straight win in the matchup.
“Stay the course,” Teague said of coach Mike Budenholzer’s message during the early fourth-quarter timeout. “We did that.”
Teague led the Hawks with a game-high 25 points. It was his 3-pointer with 4:24 remaining that capped a 19-3 run, including a 13-0 stretch, that gave the Hawks a 91-90 lead. The Rockets would tie the game twice more, but when Al Horford scored with 1:46 left and the Hawks had the lead for good at 98-96.
Horford added 18 points and Millsap had 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Hawks also got double-digit scoring from Dennis Schroder (16) and Carroll (11).
“Oh, it was chippy,” Horford said. “Two of my former teammates, Smoove (Smith) and (Florida’s) Corey (Brewer). Smoove doesn’t really talk trash but Corey on the other hand was talking to me the whole time. At the end, I kind of gave him a look and he wasn’t too happy.”
Schroder said Terry started talking trash when the two ran into each other at the Chris Brown concert at Philips Arena Monday night.
The Rockets (41-19), playing without the NBA’s leading scorer James Harden, had a five-game win streak snapped. Terry led them with 21 points.
Following his 3-pointer, Smith missed three shots, including two 3-pointers, and had two turnovers on a charge and bad pass. With each miscue the boos got louder.
The game didn’t start well for the Hawks.
The Rockets led by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, aided by nine Hawks turnovers. After falling behind by double-digits, the Hawks went on a 15-3 run and pulled to within two points, 34-32. The Rockets answered with a 10-0 run and pushed their lead back to 12 points. The advantage would grow to as many as 18 points in the second quarter and Houston took a 59-45 lead into intermission.
Budenholzer is fond of video sessions to point out issues with his team. They got a lesson at halftime. Kyle Korver said the break was spent going over video evidence of their deficiencies.
“He told us he wasn’t going to yell at us but he showed clips of us not playing at a high enough level energy wise,” Korver said. “He told us we have to care a little more. There were a bunch of plays where we weren’t getting back on defense. We were letting them get the loose balls.
“Sometimes you can challenge people with words. You can get mad at them. Sometimes you can show them the film. We are all professionals and we know we can play better.”
Of the Hawks start, including the nine turnovers, Budenholzer simply said, “I did not like our focus.”
Budenholzer picked up his first technical of the season late in the first quarter after Kent Bazemore was called for a charge, the eighth Hawks turnover.
The Hawks host the Cavaliers on Friday.
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