NEW YORK _ Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer picked up the tab when he dined with Nets coach Kenny Atkinson in Brooklyn Monday.
It was the least he could do.
Atkinson spent the past four years as a Hawks assistant coach before taking over the Nets. Oh, and then there was the matter of the beat down the Hawks put on the Nets as the teams played for the first time Tuesday.
The Hawks led from wire-to-wire and by as many as 27 points on their way to a 117-97 victory at the Barclays Center.
The Hawks (22-16) have won seven straight games and 12 of their past 16. The seven-game streak is their longest since January of 2015 when they won 19 straight games in the 60-win season.
The Hawks had six double-digit scorers. Dennis Schroder had a team-high 17 points. Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard had 14 points each, Kris Humphries had 13, Malcolm Delaney had 12 and Thabo Sefolosha had 10. Howard had 16 rebounds and Schroder had 10 assists for double-doubles.
The Nets (8-29) have lost seven straight games and 12 of the past 13. Brook Lopez led the Nets with a game-high 20 points, including 10 in the third quarter.
The Hawks led by as many as 20 points in the first half and took a 61-43 lead into intermission. Howard had his 25th double-double of the season in the first half with 10 points and 12 rebounds. He had seven offensive rebounds in the first two periods to match the output of the entire Nets team.
