Nets beat Hawks again, move within two games of 10th-place Atlanta
Nets forward Mikal Bridges yells to a teammate in the second half of an NBA game against the Hawks at Barclays Center on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The noise from rapper Pop Smoke’s song “Dior” bellowed inside the Nets’ locker room after their 114-102 win over the Hawks on Saturday.
This wasn’t just another win, and it wasn’t just their first winning streak since Jan. 27-29. The Nets treated these last two games against the Hawks as if they were part of a playoff series, and they had reason to celebrate at Barclays Center.
With 22 games remaining, the Nets (24-36) are two games behind the Hawks (26-34) for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament.
“I always want our team to have a growth mindset, not a survival mindset,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “I just want them to continue to play with that energy and that effort to play together.”
The Nets were 8-for-8 on three-pointers in the second quarter, tying a franchise record for most threes in a quarter without a miss.
Mikal Bridges continued his season-long torching of the Hawks with 38 points. It was his first 30-point game since Jan. 29 and third in four games against the Hawks this season.
He and Cam Johnson led an 8-0 run in the third quarter that gave the Nets a 68-64 lead, part of a 23-9 run.
Johnson’s four-point play pushed the lead to 83-73 in the third quarter. Bridges’ four-point play extended the lead to 100-85 with 7:07 left in the game.
“When you forget about yourself, you find yourself, and that’s what I tell him,” Ollie said of Bridges. “He understands that and that’s when you find yourself. He just got lost in playing defense, and then all the offense came to him.”
Johnson, who will celebrate his 28th birthday Sunday, had 23 points and was 4-for-7 on three-pointers. It’s the first time this season that he’s had consecutive games with at least 20 points.
The Nets also clamped down on defense, holding the Hawks to 40 points in the second half and 31% shooting.
Saddiq Bey had 23 points and Dejounte Murray added 20 for Atlanta.
After trailing by 13 during the first quarter, the Nets used a 13-3 run in the second quarter to tie the score at 59 on a three-pointer by Bridges.
Both Ollie, who is 3-3 as the interim coach, and Bridges credited Dennis Smith Jr. for changing the energy of the game with his defense in the first half. The Nets held the Hawks to zero fast-break points, an issue in Ollie’s previous five games.
“Just the intensity. Just everybody stepping up,” Bridges said on the change in attitude. “We started that first quarter really bad and sluggish. Me personally, it was a pretty bad first quarter for myself and I knew it. I was just trying to get my legs under me.”
Nic Claxton had 12 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks and helped hold the Hawks to 40.7% shooting in the paint after halftime. Dennis Schroder had 14 points and eight assists and Dorian Finney-Smith added 11 points.
It was the type of balance needed with Ben Simmons (left leg soreness) and Cam Thomas (right ankle/midfoot sprain) out for the third consecutive game.
“We picked up our energy,” Claxton said. “They were scoring too many points especially at the beginning of the game, so it was just a collective effort from everybody.”
The season may not be saved yet, but the Nets have given their fans more reason for hope. The play-in tournament remains in reach, and by winning the season series, the Nets own the tiebreaker over the Hawks.
Now it’s just about building on that energy after winning three of their last four games.
“We have to get as many as we can now,” Johnson said. “We put our backs against the wall, so it’s on us to dig ourselves out of that hole and fight doing it.”
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
