Jalen Johnson returned from a three-game absence to score a season-high 30 points, leading the Atlanta Hawks to a 124-121 win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets.
Atlanta extended its winning streak to four games.
Johnson, who had not played for a week because of a sprained ankle, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to help Atlanta overcome a six-point deficit and win its sixth straight matchup with the Nets.
Atlanta trailed the entire game, going down by as much as 17, until Nickeil Alexander-Walker put the Hawks ahead 115-114 on a pair of free throws with 1:26 left. He followed with a jumper to extend the lead to three points, and Brooklyn never caught up.
Johnson shot 11-for-17, although he missed all five of his 3-point attempts, and added seven rebounds and six assists. Alexander-Walker and Aaron Wiggins both scored 20, with Wiggins putting up 12 in the final quarter.
Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu had to be taken to the locker room in the first minute of the game after he was struck in the throat by Julius Randle’s elbow. He returned to score 16 points.
Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Randle added 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Nolan Traore also produced 19 points, and rookie Mikel Brown Jr. came off the bench to score a season-high-tying 18, including 13 in the fourth quarter to slow Atlanta’s comeback.
Day’Ron Sharpe amassed 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for his second triple-double of the season for Brooklyn, which has alternated losses and wins for five games.
The Nets were red hot from the field in the first quarter, shooting 73.7%. Traore scored nine and helped Brooklyn, which led by as many as 17 points, take a 37-27 lead.
Atlanta began to chip away at the deficit and got within two points when Johnson converted a three-point play and followed with a pair of free throws to make it 68-66. Traore drove to make a jumper at the end of the half to lift the Nets to a 70-66 lead.
The Hawks again got within two before the Nets scored seven unanswered points for a 79-70 advantage. Brooklyn upped its lead to 11 and took a 95-88 edge into the fourth quarter.
Atlanta led by seven after Wiggins made 1 of 2 foul shots with 9.5 seconds left. Brooklyn got within two on a 3-pointer from Danny Wolf with 1.5 seconds to go, and Okongwu made one free throw and missed the next with 0.2 seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media
