Hawks 105 – Nets 93

Reggie Evans got the crowd going with three buckets and two of them left handed hook shots to get Nets out 8-7. Nets first 10 points were all in the paint. Hawks with five early assists and good ball movement for a 17-15 lead midway through the first. Not a well played quarter for Brooklyn as they shot 43 percent and took a 24-21 lead after a 9-2 run. Evans with six points and seven rebounds.

The Bench Mob starter the second as usual with Joe Johnson opening the quarter with a three. Nets with nine second chance points already. The Hawks turned on the fast break on the Nets and put together a 6-0 run. Way too many turnovers for the Nets in the second and it kept the Hawks in the game at 40-40 with three to play. Deshaun Stevenson hit a falling out of bounds three to give Atlanta a 51-49 lead at half. Johnson with 13 points and Al Horford with 14 for Hawks.

[blockquote]PJ – For a lot of the game I was trying to figure out how we were hanging around because we weren’t defending very well. In the fourth quarter it all caught up with us.[/blockquote]

Deron Williams changed sneakers at half and came out and hit his first two buckets. Nets started out 3-13 and looked tired. Brook Lopez came alive midway through third. Hawks have 12 steals already and the Nets simply careless with the ball. Hawks up 66-61. Evans with 12 rebounds on third to go with 14 points. He now has 21 for the game. Nets up 73-71 after a 10-2 run to end third.

[blockquote]PJ – We didn’t defend. I don’t think we defended for most of the game. Early on I was thinking maybe it was the layoff but that’s pretty much the way we played all night. We didn’t make shots in the paint all night.[/blockquote]

Hawks open fourth on a 12-4 run due to more Nets turnovers. Horrible play by Brookyn. Atlanta has an 18-6 edge in fast break points that is hurting the Nets. PJ brought the bench in and Mirza Teletovic hit a three to cut the lead to three points. Lopez came alive a bit with free throws and inside buckets. Hawks bench has been key. They have more pts 33-18 and more assists 10-1 than Nets bench. Led by Jeff Teague w/ 8 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Hawks lead 93-86 with four to play. Horrible defense and this game is OVER. Nets lose fourth 34-20 and allowed eight layups and the Hawks to shoot 14-20 to lose 105-93.

Wasted opportunity for the Nets to tie the Knicks for first in the Atlantic Division.

LEADERS:

Points – Williams/Johnson 18

Rebounds – Evans 22

Assists – Williams 8

GAME CHANGER: The start of the fourth quarter saw the Nets allow the Hawks to hit on 13 of their first 16 shots with eight layups allowed. Outscored 34-20 in fourth quarter. Game over.

STAT OF THE GAME: The Nets out-rebounded the Hawks 50-38 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and still managed to lose the game due to 16 abysmal turnovers.