Hawks 92, Trail Blazers 89
Joe Johnson scored 24 points and led the host Atlanta Hawks to their fourth straight victory, a 92-89 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
Josh Smith added 17 points for Atlanta (11-4), which has won all four games since center Al Horford sustained a season-ending pectoral injury last week.
Jamal Crawford led Portland (8-6) with 22 points. The Trail Blazers are 2-2 on their six-game road trip.
Johnson took over for Atlanta, now 7-1 at home, down the stretch. His basket at the 5:53 mark gave the Hawks the lead for good, 79-78. He followed with a 3-pointer over a minute later to stretch the lead to 82-78.
Smith's jumper and a dunk by Jeff Teague on a fastbreak put Atlanta ahead 86-80 with 1:25 to play.
Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 88-85, but Atlanta put the game away at the foul line.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 points for Portland.
The second half featured big runs by both teams. Trailing 62-61, the Hawks finished the third quarter by scoring 14 consecutive points to take a 75-62 lead. Portland responded with a 13-0 run to open the fourth quarter and tie the game.