ATLANTA _ The Nets did everything they could to kick away a win over the Hawks when they missed an epic 21 of 54 foul shots. But when former Net star Vince Carter missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Nets counted themselves lucky to escape with a 114-112 victory Saturday night at State Farm Arena. It was their third straight win and left them in a virtual tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with the Pistons, who visit Barclays Center Monday night.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Nets pushed their lead to 88-79, but the Hawks responded with a 14-6 surge, including six points from John Collins, to cut the Nets' lead to 94-92 on a Trae Young layup with 6:54 left to play. Moments later, Young buried a 3 to tie the game at 97. That was the start of an 8-2 Hawks burst that gave them a 102-99 lead on a layup by 42-year-old Vince Carter with 4:43 left.
The Hawks' lead reached four points, but a three-point play by Jarrett Allen and a 3-point basket by D'Angelo Russell put the Nets back on top at 111-109. Two foul shots by DeMarre Carroll pushed their lead to four before the Hawks pulled within one on a John Collins layup with 1:03 to go.
The Nets had a chance to assure themselves of at least a tie in regulation when Joe Harris went to the foul line with 16.3 seconds left, but he only made the second for a 114-112 edge. The Nets never let Young penetrate below the arc, and he eventually kicked out to Carter for a deep 3 that missed at the buzzer.
Spencer Dinwiddie topped seven Nets (35-33) in double figures with 23 points and added seven assists, Allen totaled 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Russell added 18 points and six assists. Collins had a monster game for the Hawks (22-45) with 33 points and 20 rebounds and Young contributed 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
After losing three straight to losing teams below them in the Eastern Conference standings, the Nets scored home wins over two other losing teams, the Mavs and the Cavs to climb back to one game over .500. Their game against the Hawks represented the final chance to play a losing team before they take on the sixth-place Pistons at home Monday and then begin a seven-game road trip.
"Yeah, it's another big game for us against a team that's improving, that's playing well, that has some young guys playing really great basketball," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said of a Hawks team that was 3-4 in its previous seven games. "We want to keep building on those two wins obviously."
The Nets came out shooting horribly in the opening quarter when they converted only 5 of 19 3-point attempts, but a late push off the bench in a 9-2 surge got them to a 26-23 lead on a 3 by Dinwiddie. The Nets poor shooting continued in the second period, but after a tie at 41, they put together a 15-6 run, including seven points from Allen, before halftime to forge a 56-47 lead.
