It turns out a 15-point fourth-quarter lead against the Warriors is not enough.
Not for the Hawks, anyway.
The Hawks couldn’t keep the comfortable margin and dropped a 101-100 decision to the Warriors as Andre Iguodala hit a 3-pointer as time expired to cap the comeback Friday night at Philips Arena.
The Hawks led by 15 points with 6:48 remaining. The Warriors went on a 20-4 run to take a 96-95 lead with 2:31 left. The Hawks got two free throws and a basket from Paul Millsap to lead by three points with 1:22 remaining. Jeff Teague added a free throw with 32.3 seconds left for a four-point advantage, 100-96. Stephen Curry scored in close to make it a two-point game with a half-minute to play. Millsap missed at the shot-clock buzzer giving the Warriors life with 3.2 seconds left.
Pero Antic guarded Iguodala as he in-bounded the ball. After a pass to Curry, Pero left Iguodala to try to trap. Curry passed back to Iguodala, who drained the 3-pointer as Teague made a late run at him.
Game over.
“We should have won that game and we know it,” Kyle Korver said. “It’s definitely a frustrating loss.”
The Hawks (18-15) had a five-game home win streak snapped. They lost their fourth straight to the Warriors and three in a row at home.
Antic, in his first career start, led the Hawks with career-highs of 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and seven rebounds. It was his defensive lapse the led to the game-winner.
“I saw (Curry) fall down and I was thinking to go and double-team but he got up and give fast pass to Iguodala and he just shot it,” said Antic, who will start again at center Saturday at the Bulls.
“I started thinking if my man leaves, I’ll be open,” Iguodala said. “(Curry) hit me back and I made the shot. When you put in hard work, things like that happen.”
Shelvin Mack had 15 points and Teague finished with 14 points. Mike Scott, DeMarre Carroll and Millsap all had 12 points. Korver extended his NBA-record streak to 102 games with a 3-pointer.
The Warriors (22-13) have won eight straight, including four on their current seven-game road trip. They defeated the Heat Thursday 123-114.
David Lee had 23 points and Curry had 22 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, for the Warriors. Klay Thompson added 21 points.
Golden State scored 37 fourth-quarter points as the Hawks shot 1 of 9 from the field and had two turnovers in the final 6:48.
“We stopped playing,” Teague said. “We started looking at the clock. We stopped running and playing fast and we started looking at the clock, praying time would go down. They started picking up their tempo and their pace and making shots.
“It’s one of the worst losses of my career. We played so well and for a guy to hit a shot like that, I guess they deserved it.”
The score was tied at 46-46 at the intermission. The Warriors took an early seven-point lead, 20-13, in the first quarter including making 7 of 8 field goals to start the game. They were aided by nine Hawks turnovers in the opening period.
The Hawks answered with an 18-6 run between the first and second quarters to take a five-point advantage, 31-26, in the first half.
The Hawks finished the first half with 16 field goals, eight from 3-point range. Antic hit for three of them.
The Hawks took a 72-64 lead into the final quarter before building the double-digit lead they could not hold.
The Hawks entered aware of the Warriors’ 3-point shooting ability. They limited Golden State to 6 of 27 shooting from long range, half of the 3-pointers coming in the fourth quarter.
“A couple of mental mistakes cost us that game,” Korver said. “That’s the NBA. Some nights energy is good and can win you games but you can’t just rely on playing harder. You have to play smart too. We just had a bunch of mental mistakes.”
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