Utah Jazz makes it four in a row as they outplay Atlanta Hawks 90-86
The Utah Jazz has overcome big deficits to win four in a row heading Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena, Atlanta. Good luck seems to be avoiding the Hawks as they lost four consecutive matches.
The Hawks had four straight losses, including three at home, after winning their first six matches. A crowd of 17,069 fans watched the amazing match and enjoyed every moment of the game cheering their teams and encouraging them to take the game. But Jazz
fans were blessed as their team came out victorious.
Hats off to the Jazz for a fantastic performance in the final quarter of the game. The Hawks were leading them by 6 points and Jazz made a great come back in the final session.
Prominent players
Deron Williams remained the highest scorer for Jazz as he added 24 points, backed by 10 assists. Utah had strong double-doubles from Al Jefferson (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Andrei Kirilenko (14 points, 12 rebounds).
Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 23 points. Josh Smith added 20 points and 13 rebounds. Jamal Crawford added 14 points.
Game Story
Hawks led the first three sessions but their opponent overtook them in the final quarter. They not only covered the previous 6 points deficit but also notched up a lead of 4 points. Paul Millsap hit a corner jumper with 1:20 to play and the Utah Jazz came
back from a double-digit second-half deficit in the fourth consecutive game to beat the Hawks.
Hawks led 74-63 with 36 seconds left in the fourth period before the Jazz put together a 15-4 run to tie it at 78. With 6:43 Andrei Kirilenko drained a three-pointer.
Millsap’s basket put Utah up 88-86 and the Hawks still had a chance when Josh Smith rebounded Millsap’s miss with 14.7 seconds remaining, but Al Horford, fouled with 7.3 seconds left, missed both shots and Utah rebounded.
Deron Williams led the Jazz with 24 points and 10 assists, but unluckily he was fouled with 6.4 seconds left and converted both to wrap up the game.
The Hawks were leading 86-81 on a pair of free throws by Smith with 3:34 left. Utah, however, got a three-point play from Millsap with 3:19 left and Williams tied it at 84 on a jumper with 1:56 left.
Shining star
For the seventh time in his last eight games, Kirilenko scored in double figures. His season-high 12 rebounds included a game-high four on the offensive boards.
Poor performance
Hawks point guard, Mike Bibby, is averaging just 2.5 assists over the last four games. It hardly helped that the 12th-year veteran hit just one of five shots from the field and missed all three of his 3-pointer attempts.
Quotable
While discussing the poor rebounding efforts of his team, Hawks coach Larry Drew said, "It's a growing problem, and it won't be fixed until we get it in our minds that we have to be more focused about doing it. However, we will work on it every day in practice.
I can guarantee you that".
On his team's tendency to trail early in recent games before rallying to win, Jefferson said, "I guess it's just that willpower. When you've got a coach like coach (Jerry) Sloan motivating you the way he does, he'll make you run through that brick wall".
Jazz met the challenge with determination, strength, and total confidence.
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