ATLANTA _ If there's one area where the Nets' inexperience has shown this season, it's holding a lead. So after building a 22-point second-quarter lead, the Nets fought themselves as much as an injury-riddled Hawks team, allowing the cushion to shrink to uncomfortable single-digit levels throughout the second half when Atlanta got as close as five points.
But while it seemed touch-and-go at times, the Nets held on for a 107-92 victory that was the first for coach Kenny Atkinson over his former Atlanta mentor Mike Budenholzer. It also was the Hawks' seventh straight loss.
Brook Lopez led the Nets (16-57) with 23 points, Jeremy Lin added 19 and eight assists, and they got 11 from K.J. McDaniels and 10 from Spencer Dinwiddie off the bench. The Nets' bench outscored Atlanta's reserves 46-7, but the Hawks (37-36) had a huge 30-13 advantage in second-chance points. They were topped by Dennis Schroder with 24 points. Dwight Howard had 19 points and 16 rebounds and Taurean Prince scored 17.
The Hawks were without three injured starters: Paul Millsap (knee), Thabo Sefolosha (groin) and Kent Bazemore (knee). But as an assistant under Budenholzer the previous four seasons, Atkinson said, "I don't think it matters who's playing for them. They have a strong program. They always have guys that step up and take the place of other guys, and they play such team basketball that it's still a great challenge for us."
The Nets had their own health issues with guards Joe Harris (shoulder) and Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring) still sitting out even though they were healthy enough to play three-on-three before the game. Starting power forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was suffering from an illness that required him to take fluids and medicine before starting the game.
After the Hawks jumped out to a four-point lead, the Nets went on a 33-5 run to build a 43-21 lead early in the second quarter. Backup point guard Dinwiddie led some effective play by the second unit with nine points, including a four-point play at the end of the opening period that put the Nets 12 points in front, their biggest first-quarter lead on the road all season.
But thoughts of a blowout win such as the one they scored over Phoenix on Thursday gave way to a sense of desperation as the Hawks finished the first half on a 27-12 run to cut the Nets' halftime lead to 55-48. Offensive rebounding helped the Hawks, who had a 20-8 edge in second-chance points at the break, including 14 second-chance points during that run.
The Hawks pulled within five right away in the third quarter, but the Nets' starters kicked it into gear with a 14-3 run, including nine points from Caris LeVert, to push their lead back to 16 at 71-55. But the Hawks responded with an 11-3 surge that helped them cut the difference to 78-68 at the end of the third period.
