Lin, Lopez propel Nets past reeling Hawks
ATLANTA -- Veterans Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez combined for 42 points to help the Brooklyn Nets outlast the short-handed and struggling Atlanta Hawks 107-92 on Sunday, handing them their seventh straight loss.
Lopez had 23 points and seven rounds and Lin scored 19 points, his most since getting a season-high 24 on March 14. Lin added eight assists, two steals and four rebounds for the Nets (16-57).
Brooklyn has won three of its last four, improved to 8-8 in March and broke a five-game losing streak in Atlanta.
The Hawks were playing without forward Paul Millsap and guards Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefolosha. Millsap, the team's leading scorer, missed his fifth straight game with left knee tightness, Bazemore sat out his fourth straight contest with a bone bruise on his right knee and Sefolosha was a late scratch with a right groin strain.
Atlanta (37-36) was led by Dennis Schroder with 24 points and eight assists. Dwight Howard had 19 points and 16 rebounds and Taurean Prince, making his first career start, had 17 points and six rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 16 points.
Brooklyn also got 11 points apiece from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Kevin McDaniels and 10 from Spencer Dinwiddie and outscored the Atlanta reserves 46-7.
Brooklyn took advantage of seven Atlanta turnovers and led 32-20 after one quarter. The Nets finished the quarter when Dinwiddie converted a four-point play after throwing up a long, off-balanced 3-pointer.
The Nets continued to take advantage and surged to a 22-point lead when Trevor Booker made a pair of free throws with 9:03 left in the half for a 43-21 lead.
Atlanta began its comeback, which was fueled by Schroder's three-point play and Prince's 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions. The Hawks got as close as seven points when Prince made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 55-48 at halftime.
Atlanta closed the deficit to five points, only to have Brooklyn respond with a 10-0 run culminated on a driving layup by Caris LeVert that gave the Nets a 67-52 lead with 8:47 left in the third quarter. The Hawks got as close as eight points and trailed 78-68 after three quarters when Hardaway scored on a putback just before the end of the session.
NOTES: Brooklyn G Rondae Hollis-Jefferson started the game but left midway in the first quarter and was taken to the locker room. He had been fighting the flu. Hollis-Jefferson returned with seven minutes left in the first half and displayed no further problems. ... Atlanta C Dwight Howard picked up the 12,000th rebound of his career. Howard earned his 48th double-double (and has had double-digit rebounds in 15 straight games. ... Atlanta G Tim Hardaway Jr. made a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to extend his streak to 25 straight games. ... Atlanta will host Phoenix on Tuesday night. The Nets return home to play Philadelphia on Tuesday.