The Atlanta Hawks improved to 3-0 on the year after defeating the New Jersey Nets 105-98 for the second time this season. This was a completely different result compared to the season opener when the Hawks rolled past the Nets by 36 points. The Hawks led most of the way tonight but they could never pull away from the Nets as their biggest lead came in the fourth quarter and it was a nine point lead.
The Nets Deron Williams cut the Hawks lead to two points when he made a layup to make the score 98-96, but that would be the last field goal of the night for the Nets. The key moment in the game that sealed the victory for the Hawks was when they were up 100-96 and the Nets Marshon Brooks could not inbounds the ball so he called a timeout. However, the Nets were out of timeouts so a technical foul was called and the Hawks were awarded a free throw and the ball. Joe Johnson hit the free throw for the technical foul and then hit the next four free throws to secure the win for the Hawks.
The Hawks spread the scoring out tonight with five players putting up double figures and were led by Jeff Teague who scored 22 points and Joe Johnson contributed with 21 points on the night.
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