Hawks rally from 17 down in the first quarter to beat Nets
Jalen Johnson scored 30 points (22 in the paint), and the Atlanta Hawks rallied from 17 points down in the first quarter to beat the Brooklyn Nets 124-121 for their fourth straight win.
The Hawks trailed 31-14 with 3:57 left in the first quarter. They outscored the Nets 110-90 the rest of the way.
Onyeka Okongwu’s free throw with 0.2 seconds left made it 124-121 and put it away.
During clutch time, the Hawks outscored the Nets 20-11. Jalen Johnson scored eight of the Hawks’ 20 on 2-of-2 shooting and 4 of 4 at the line.
Aaron Wiggins had 20 points (15 on five 3-pointers) and six assists off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 points, and Dyson Daniels had nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals. The Hawks had three 20-point scorers. Daniels made three of his five floaters. He has taken 517 floaters since 2024-25, the third-most in the NBA, and made 49.7% of them (the league: 44.9%).
For the Nets, Michael Porter Jr. had 25 points and nine rebounds, and Nolan Traore added 19 points and a career-high five steals on 8-of-10 shooting. Julius Randle had 19 points and eight assists. Mikel Brown Jr. scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.
The Nets committed 22 turnovers to the Hawks’ 12. They took 31 of their 89 shots at the rim (35%), the highest share of their season. They had averaged 27%. The Hawks outscored the Nets 20-4 on the fast break. The Hawks were outscored 15-4 in four minutes with Alexander-Walker, Johnson, Daniels, Flemings and Ejiofor on the floor together.