Thaddeus Young's 2 free throws lift Nets over Hawks 90-88
NEW YORK (AP) - It was a game that neither team seemed to want to win.
In the end, it was the Nets that came out on top of a sloppy contest when Thaddeus Young hit two free throws with 1.4 seconds left and Brooklyn beat the Atlanta Hawks 90-88 on Tuesday night.
Brook Lopez had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn. Young finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Jarrett Jack and Shane Larkin each had 14.
Al Horford scored 18 points for the Hawks. Paul Millsap had 17 and Kyle Korver added 13.
"My mindset when I got the ball was I was going to score the ball," Young said about his drive to the hoop. "I potentially knew I was going to the free-throw line, so I was prepared for that also. But, at the end of the day I can say we won the game."
Despite the Hawks tying a season-high with 17 turnovers, Sefolosha's 3-pointer with 41 seconds left gave them an 88-86 lead before Jack tied it on a short jumper with 33 seconds left.
After Young hit the winning free throws, he knocked away Sefolosha's inbounds pass to Horford as time expired.
"We initially said that coming out of the timeout we were going to switch everything," Young explained. "Switch everything. Switch everything. We knew if Kyle Korver couldn't get in there they would try and lob it in to Horford and let him make a play."
Neither team led by more than four points in a sloppy first quarter when they combined for 14 turnovers, eight by the Hawks, who led 19-17 after the first 12 minutes.
"I give Brooklyn credit," said Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer. "They played well. They forced the turnovers. We didn't take care of the ball. So we're going to have to clean that up."
The Hawks went up by a game-high 10 points, 35-25, after Korver hit a 3-pointer with 6:06 left in the second.
The Nets followed with a 15-5 run, capped by Young's put-back layup with 1:36 left before halftime to tie the game at 40.
The Hawks led 46-45 at halftime.
Atlanta increased its advantage to 61-55 on Horford's 3-pointer with 6:22 left in the third quarter. But, Larkin hit back-to-back 3s to put the Nets up 68-64 with 1:56 remaining before Brooklyn ended the quarter up 72-68.
"The game wasn't the prettiest," Jack said. "I have a saying that it may not look pretty, but it all looks the same in the 'W' column."
The Nets led 76-70 in the fourth quarter before the Hawks responded with an 8-0 run to regain the lead and set up the dramatic finish.
Joe Johnson scored 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Nets. Dennis Schroder had 10 assists for the Hawks.
LOPEZ LONGTIME NET
Brook Lopez, now in his eighth season with the Nets, is the longest tenured player on the roster. Only Buck Williams (1981-89) has played more seasons with the franchise.
GO JOHNSON
Joe Johnson has made at least one basket in 895 straight games. That is the longest active streak in the NBA. He connected on two 3-pointers and moved into sole possession of 12th place in NBA history with 1,720. Next up? Kyle Korver of the Hawks (1,747).
TIP-INS:
Hawks: Guard/forward Kent Bazemore, who started Atlanta's first 12 games, suffered a right ankle sprain in Monday's loss to the Utah Jazz and did not play on Tuesday. ... Tiago Splitter started his first game of the season as Bazemore's replacement.
Nets: The Nets had lost six straight games to Atlanta. Brooklyn's previous victory in the series was on January 16, 2014, 127-110 in London. . At 2-9, this is Brooklyn's worst start to a season since the 2009-10 team lost its first 18.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Atlanta hosts Sacramento on Wednesday.
Nets: Brooklyn plays at Charlotte on Wednesday.