Thunder rally for win over Hawks (updated)

The Thunder overcame a 12-point second-half deficit with a rally keyed by the 3-pointer. They went on a 19-2 run, making five from long-distance. Anthony Morrow hit four of them. His basket with 6:27 left tied the game at 105-105 and Russell Westbrook hit another to give the Thunder the lead for good.

“I think we collapsed down the stretch,” DeMarre Carroll said. “We stopped being aggressive on the offensive end and were getting late shots. We’ve got to learn. We’ve got to stay aggressive throughout the whole game. Just because we’ve got a lead, we can’t stop being aggressive.”

The Hawks (53-16, 23-12 road) dropped their second straight and ended a season-long six-game road trip 3-3. Their magic numbers remained one to clinch the Southeast Division, pending the Wizards late game against the Clippers, and three to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Pero Antic led the Hawks with a career-high 22 points. Dennis Schroder added 21 points. All five Hawks starters also scored in double figures with Paul Millsap (19), Carroll (15), Jeff Teague (11), Al Horford (10) and Kent Bazemore (10). Starting guard Kyle Korver missed his third straight game with a broken nose.

“We were playing with fire there because we were scoring and back-and-forth it was going,” Horford said. “It was an entertaining game, quote-unquote, but we weren’t stopping them. Once we stopped making shots, that was the difference.”

The Thunder (39-30), fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, have won two straight and four of five. They played without Kevin Durant, who has been shut down from all basketball activities as he returns from foot surgery.

Westbrook finished with a triple-double of 36 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. He was 17 of 17 from the free-throw line and played every minute of the second half. Dion Waiters added 26 points and Morrow had 21, including six 3-pointers.

“I mean 17, that’s ridiculous,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said about Westbrook’s trips to the free-throw line. “But having said ridiculous, he did some things. He finds a way to get to the line. We can be better. We can be smarter. Maybe you hold him to 10. Maybe you hold him to 12. I think he had zero going into the last two minutes of the half and had seven in the last two minutes and five in the last probably 15 seconds. Five free throws? That will make a big difference. We’ve got to not foul him in both those situations.”

Hawks players said they felt their point guards of Teague and Schroder were being just as aggressive as Westbrook in getting into the paint.

“I thought we were doing the same thing – attacking,” Millsap said. “Just not getting rewarded for it, I guess.”

The Hawks fell behind by nine points in the first quarter as the Thunder made 12 of their first 20 shots. The Hawks still managed to take a 35-34 lead after the first period on the strength of four 3-pointers. A 13-4 second-quarter run gave the Hawks a nine-point lead of their own. They pushed their lead to 10 points, 66-56, with an Antic 3-pointer late in the second quarter. The long-distance shot was the fourth of the first half for Antic, who tied his career-high of 18 points after just two quarters.

“Guys were finding me when I was open and I was knocking down some shots,” Antic said. “I’ve been struggling the last few weeks with the shots. I’m glad that they are going but at the end, you know me, I don’t care about that. We lost.”

The Hawks took a 68-61 lead at intermission.Millsap scored nine third-quarter points as the Hawks took a 95-90 lead into the final quarter despite leading by as many as 12 points.

Thabo Sefolosha, out with a calf injury, was unable to play in this first game back in Oklahoma City after five seasons with the Thunder. He received a loud ovation from the crowd when shown on the scoreboard during a timeout.

The Hawks return home and host the Spurs Sunday afternoon.