Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard each had double-doubles to keep the Hawks unbeaten with a 106-95 foul-plagued victory over the Kings Monday night at Philips Arena.
The Hawks needed a fourth-quarter run to clinch a game they led by double-digits on several occasions before losing the advantage in the third quarter.
Millsap finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a block for the Hawks (3-0). Howard had 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Hawks had four other double-digit scorers led by Kyle Korver (five 3-pointers) and Dennis Schroder with 17 points each. Kent Bazemore had 11 points and Mike Muscala added 10 points. Thabo Sefolosha had four points, six rebounds, four steals and was a plus-20. He had a chase-down steal from Rudy Gay that Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer called a “winning play.”
The game featured 54 fouls – including 33 on the Kings. The Hawks went to the free-throw line 47 times.
Gay had a game-high 22 points for the Kings (2-2).
The Hawks led by as many as 13 points in the first half. Their lead was 11 points, 55-44, when Howard made a pair of free throws to start the third quarter. However, the Kings answered with a 22-5 run to take a six-point advantage. Their first lead of the game came with a Ty Lawson 3-pointer with 6:45 left in the third.
The Hawks answered with a run of their own, that included a steal and clear-path foul by Kent Bazemore, to re-take the lead. It didn’t last. The Kings took an 81-79 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Hawks went on the decisive 19-5 run to lead after the Kings scored the first basket of the final period to regain a double-digit lead, 98-88, with 3:59 left. The rout was on.
