Jalen Johnson scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the Atlanta Hawks to a 124-112 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks for their seventh straight win.
The win broke Atlanta’s four-game losing streak against Dallas and sent the Mavericks to their eighth consecutive loss, their longest losing streak since 2016-17. The seven-game winning streak is the longest for Atlanta since the 2021-22 season.
With the game tied at 97-97, Johnson scored on a three-point play and added a 3-pointer to put Atlanta ahead 105-99 to prevent the Hawks from blowing an 18-point second-half lead.
Atlanta also got 29 points from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who made back-to-back 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Onyeka Okongwu scored 18 with nine rebounds and Dyson Daniels had 14 points and 10 assists.
Dallas was led by Klay Thompson, who came off the bench to make five 3-pointers and score 21 points. Khris Middleton notched 16 points while Cooper Flagg, Daniel Gafford and Naji Marshall each scored 14. Flagg added 12 rebounds and five assists.
The Hawks got off to another fast start, racing to a 10-2 lead on the way to a 40-26 advantage after one quarter.
The Mavericks used a 9-1 spurt in the second quarter to get as close as 45-39. Atlanta coach Quin Snyder called timeout and the Hawks responded by scoring six straight to restore their 12-point lead. Atlanta led 64-53 at halftime.
The Hawks could not shake the Mavs in the third quarter. They owned an 18-point lead at the 5:08 mark, but Dallas used a 20-6 run and cut the lead to 93-89 on a 3-pointer by Thompson at 1:01. Atlanta took a 95-91 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Mavs tied the game 97-97 on a Middleton bucket with 9:02 to go.
Atlanta played without Jonathan Kuminga for the third straight game with a left knee bone bruise.
–Field Level Media
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