Atlanta, we have a problem. Your hometown basketball team is officially in free fall. Brook Lopez scored 32 points and Devin Harris added 27 and took a crucial charge in overtime to lead the New Jersey Nets to a 107-101 overtime win against the hapless Atlanta Hawks.
Jamal Crawford had 21 points off the bench and Josh Smith added 20 for Atlanta (8-7), which lost for the seventh time in nine games.
While this one didn't stink as badly as parts of the Jersey Turnpike, it's hard to imagine that things can get much worse for Atlanta, which lost to one of the worst teams in the league.
One night after getting blown out by one of the best teams in the East, the Hawks hit the highway to take on New Jersey. Unfortunately, some of the same problems that plagued Atlanta in its 99-76 loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday night at Philips Arena came with them on the flight to Brick City.
The Hawks allowed the Nets to score the first nine points and had to play catchup all night. The best the Hawks could do was to forge a 93-93 tie with 20.3 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Joe Johnson to send this one to overtime.
New Jersey took care of business in the extra session, opening up a five point lead. Atlanta cut the lead to 103-99 and had a chance to make it a possession game with 22 seconds remaining as Smith ran down the court for the transition bucket. But Harris used his body to draw the charge and seal the win.
Johnson had 16 points and Al Horford added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which dropped its third straight game.