In a matchup between the NBA’s top titans, it was the Atlanta Hawks who prevailed, beating the Golden State Warriors 124-116 in a thrilling, high-octane affair on Friday night at Philips Arena.
The Warriors had trimmed an 11-point Hawks lead down to six at the 2:24 mark, but Harrison Barnes missed an open corner three and DeMarre Carroll snuck in with a layup to put the Hawks up 116-108 with 1:30 to play.
With Stephen Curry sitting to start the fourth, the Hawks jumped ahead 100-90, sparked by two jumpers by Dennis Schroder. The Warriors pushed back, pulling within three at 102-99 after a putback by Draymond Green.
But the Hawks pulled away thanks to their three-point shooting. A string of four consecutive made field goals and a couple of free throws in a minute and a half helped Atlanta regain its double-digit lead at 114-103, with Kyle Korver and Mike Scott knocking down threes.
The Hawks shot 55.6% (15-of-27) from beyond-the-arc. They finished with seven players scoring in double figures, as they truly received contributions from everyone who played.
Paul Millsap led the way with 19 points, but three players — Jeff Teague, Korver, and Scott — had 17 each.
The widespread contributions nullified the Splash Brothers’ scoring: 27 for Klay Thompson and 24 for Curry.
The Hawks came out of the locker room on a 12-3 run to take a 64-55 lead at 9:10 of the third quarter. Korver hit a three of a screen, then two turnovers led to a layup by Al Horford and a corner trey by Teague. Atlanta played fast and took advantage of the Warriors’ sloppiness.
Down by double digits at 70-60, the Warriors responded with a 9-2 run on three 3-pointers by Curry and Thompson, cutting the lead to 72-69.
Curry made a couple more threes in the quarter, scoring 15 in the quarter alone. Yet, the Warriors could not take the lead, only pulling even a few times despite going 6-of-9 from downtown. Scott nailed back-to-back threes near the end of the quarter to give the Hawks an 89-85 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The two teams went back and forth in the first half, the Warriors attempting to build a lead but the Hawks not letting them pull away.
Leading 25-21 after one, Marreese Speights and the bench pushed the lead to 34-27. But the Hawks pulled even with a 7-0 run, finished off by a three by Kyle Korver after an errant inbound pass by David Lee.
The Hawks used the foul line to stay in the game, shooting 12 free throws to the Warriors’ two. Atlanta’s final five points of the half were foul shots, a big reason why the game was tied 52-52 at halftime.
Golden State shot nine percent better from the floor and out-rebounded the Hawks, but fell victim to turnovers and fouls.
Tale of the Tape
Warriors
- Field-goal percentage: 45.6% (47-103)
- Three-point percentage: 36.4% (12-33)
- Rebounds: 51
- Assists: 31
- Turnovers: 13
Hawks
- Field-goal percentage: 49.4% (38-77)
- Three-point percentage: 55.6% (15-27)
- Rebounds: 38
- Assists: 28
- Turnovers: 13
Good to Know
What’s on Tap
The Warriors fly straight to New York to take on the Knicks tomorrow night.