4 Takeaways From Hawks’ 124-121 Comeback Win Over Nets

The Atlanta Hawks did not lead the Brooklyn Nets until 1:26 remained Saturday night at State Farm Arena. They won 124-121, coming back from 17 points down in the first quarter on the second night of a back-to-back.

Atlanta is 7-4 and has won four straight. Brooklyn is 2-7.

Johnson had not played since he sprained his left ankle Oct. 31 in New Orleans, and the Hawks carried him as probable going into Saturday. He scored 30.

Johnson went 11-of-12 on 2-pointers, 0-of-5 from 3-point range, and 8-of-10 at the line. In the fourth quarter he scored 12 on 4-of-5 shooting, assisted two Aaron Wiggins baskets, and capped Atlanta's 10-0 run with a driving three-point play at 38.5 seconds.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder wants Johnson catching and shooting and making his reads before the ball reaches him.

"I think the way that he started the game, he was really running," Snyder said. "He was active without the ball. When you can learn to play without the ball, [it] takes your game to another level. There's other things that are going on in the game. Crashing the offensive glass, some of those things he was really committed to."

"And then at certain times he was able to have the ball, and we wanted him to have the ball, and really make good reads, which I thought was important," Snyder continued. "So just being able to feel when is the time to make a pass, and when is the time to attack the rim."

Johnson finished with 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 35:54. Snyder did not think Johnson "went away from anything, but he did additional things."

The Hawks made 35 of their 53 shots in the paint. Brooklyn scored 48 there.

Atlanta's 3-point numbers were 12-of-46, and 2-of-15 in the third quarter alone. The Hawks scored 20 fast-break points to Brooklyn's 4, and 28 points off the Nets' 22 turnovers. They had 15 offensive rebounds and turned them into 24 second-chance points.

In the second quarter, Atlanta went 16-of-26 and outscored Brooklyn 28-10 in the paint, and a 10-point Nets lead after one quarter was down to 70-66 at halftime.

Snyder said the Hawks have not finished at the rim this season as well as they want to.

"I hope that there's some commonality," Snyder explained. "I think we've tried to handle the past in the right way, meaning there are some things that we did at the end of last year that were really good that we want to take with us. There was some adversity prior to that, and also at the end of that, hopefully we can also bring with us to understand how we need to be better."

"I think the overarching, the umbrella for us, is defend, run, and share the ball," Snyder added. "However that manifests itself and what the team looks like, I think those things, that's what we want the substance of that identity to be."

Atlanta had 30 assists on 47 field goals. Dyson Daniels had 7 of them, Wiggins had 6, and Onyeka Okongwu had 5.

The Nets scored 70 points in the first half on 23-of-35 shooting. After halftime, they went 20-of-54 from the field and 5-of-24 from 3-point range, with 11 turnovers, and scored 51.

Atlanta blocked 8 shots after the break, after blocking 1 before it. Okongwu had 2 of them, and so did Kingston Flemings, who made his first NBA start Wednesday in Washington. Both of Flemings' blocks came in the final 59.3 seconds, the second after Snyder won a challenge on a shooting foul called against him.

Daniels, who missed a triple-double by one rebound Friday, had 6 steals, 4 of them after halftime. His steal from Day'Ron Sharpe with 1:47 left set up the Okongwu 3-pointer that cut Brooklyn's lead to 114-113.

Snyder knew the Hawks would be a little fatigued on the back end of the back-to-back.

"That's been something," Snyder said. "We've talked a lot about our identity offensively, where we can run and move the ball, but defending, that's the foundation. And when we do that, [it] gives us an opportunity to do those other things, really across the board. I thought we gave up a lot."

"[I think] last night wasn't our best defensive effort, and we talked about that a little before the game," Snyder continued. "And I didn't think we started out at the level we want to. I said some of that was Brooklyn making shots. But as the game progressed, I thought we got better and better defensively."

Friday's win over the Washington Wizards was 139-132.

Jock Landale missed his fourth straight game with a left hip strain. Asa Newell, who hyperextended his left big toe Wednesday in Washington, was out too, along with Mouhamed Gueye, Keshon Gilbert, and Henri Veesaar.

Brooklyn outrebounded Atlanta 53-40. Noah Clowney had 10 rebounds in 21:25 off the bench, and Sharpe and Danny Wolf also had 10 apiece. Daniels led the Hawks with 10, and Zuby Ejiofor had 6 in 18:13.

Some of Wiggins' 6 assists were quick passes, just getting off the ball so a teammate could make a play.

"I think just understanding as a team the ways that we can help each other," Wiggins said. "When we're missing, whether it's Jalen Johnson in scoring and playmaking, whether it's Jock [Landale], Asa [Newell], and [their] rebounding, just opportunities to kind of create as a connector on the team. Understanding individually how you can contribute, and then as a team, our strengths. I think we do a good job moving the ball, passing the ball, creating for each other, playing without the ball, and those things require more attention when you're missing some of our bigs, and obviously rebounding as a team is bigger."

"So I think guys understand that when we're missing pieces like that, we have to fill in as a team, and it has to be as a collective," Wiggins added. "And guys have done a good job to this point, just kind of understanding."

Atlanta went 3-0 without Johnson, beating the Indiana Pacers 108-104 on Monday and Washington 120-105 on Wednesday and 139-132 on Friday. Snyder said "everybody's got a role, and roles change not just game to game. They can change during the course of a game."

The Hawks host the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.