Well into Wednesday, the Hawks appeared to be in fine shape when they arrived at a dreaded fork in their road: the fourth quarter.
The Hawks have been swept in final periods in this series, the Nets outscoring them in the final stanza of all five games by 135-114. As nearly every bit of a 12-point lead was burning away and Brooklyn pulled within a single possession six times — seven when counting an occasion where the Nets cut their deficit from three points to one — Kyle Korver had a thought.
“We had a nice little lead … and they hit some big shots and we got a little tight,” Kyle Korver explained.
A 10-2 closeout sewed up a 107-97 win, but did not hide the fact that the Hawks have struggled to close out the Nets.
Coach Mike Budenholzer’s reason sounded simple even if it lacked detail. “We haven’t started well,” he said, perhaps not thrilled Brooklyn managed a 27-25 in the final period.
All ended well as the Hawks connected on their final four shots with Jeff Teague scoring twice, adding two free throws and assisting twice to Al Horford.
“I used to have to tell DeMarre [Carroll] to shot the ball and now it’s Al,” Teague said. “When Al is aggressive and just looking for his shot … it opens up the floor for everyone.”
Atlanta Hawks opened the fourth poorly.
The Hawks needed their late surge after beginning the period 5-of-14 with four turnovers in the first 8:41. The Nets turned the miscues into eight points.
That wasn’t new. Brooklyn’s 30-22 fourth quarter edge Monday forced overtime, where Atlanta lost and was knotted up.
Even with all five starters on the floor Wednesday, the Nets began the final period with a 9-0 run similar to an 11-0 run to start the second.
The Hawks’ handles went missing over the first 9:55 of the last as Horford lost a ball out of bounds, Teague threw away two passes, Horford committed an offensive foul off the ball, and Paul Millsap traveled.
Nets with heavy Atlanta connections nearly did in the Hawks.
Five times in the fourth, Brooklyn reserve guard Jarrett Jack — a former Georgia Tech star who calls Atlanta home — hit shots to pull Brooklyn within a basket (once to shrink a three-point deficit to one). Twice that honor went to former Hawk Joe Johnson, the last two when he made 3-pointers at the 3:00 and 2:20 marks to pull Brooklyn within 95-92 and 97-95.
“(In the) second and fourth (quarters), we’ve got to come out of the timeout more focused, more committed to what we’re doing defensively and more committed to sharing the ball,” Budenholzer said.
The Hawks never let the Nets tie or take the lead, so they snapped into character in timely fashion.
Three times Horford scored to grow the lead to more than a possession, and Millsap, Korver and Teague each made 3-pointers to do the same. Teague scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth, when he banked three of his eight assists.
In the final 2:19, the Hawks were nearly perfect, making all four shots as Teague drove with purpose. Atlanta also blunted four of Brooklyn’s last five shots.
“[Teague] just kind of took over late, and was getting in the lane” Nets guard Deron Williams said after scoring five points on 2-of-6 shooting. “It’s hard to contain him one-on-one. We have to bring a lot of help to him, and we just didn’t do that.”
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