The Hawks came back home to the Philips Arena fresh off of a 93-91 win over the Heat in Miami and riding a four-game winning streak. Tonight, the Hawks faced a scrappy Houston Rockets team that was without the services of Dwight Howard and MVP candidate James Harden. Howard is out with a knee injury and Harden is suspended one game for kicking LeBron James in Houston's last game against Cleveland. The Hawks had a rough first half but dominated the second half for a season sweep of the Rockets.
Houston got out to a quick 8-2 start in the game. Atlanta responded quickly and got the lead at 10-8. A three pointer by Rockets' guard Patrick Beverly put Houston up, 21-17, with 5:13 left in the period. They eventually went on a 16-0 run. The Rockets were able to cause nine first quarter turnovers on the Hawks. Houston led, 31-22, after one quarter.
A three ball by Atlanta's Kyle Korver quickly trimmed the deficit to 31-25 early in the second quarter. The Hawks then made it 34-30 off of an Al Horford alley-oop. Houston then caught the shooting bug and went back up 42-32 on an 8-0 run. The lead increased to 57-39 with 1:44 left in the half, and the Rockets went into the break with a 59-45 lead. Terrence Jones was hot for the Rockets, as he put in 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting.
The Hawks quickly cut the deficit to 10 with 9:45 left in the third quarter. Atlanta's second half rally was led by point guard Jeff Teague who had 25 points and six assists. Houston's Jason Terry found the fountain of youth in this game, as he had 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting and 4 of 4 from three. The lead was back up to 70-58. Atlanta then got a spark from Dennis Schroder off the bench, as he led a 10-2 charge that made it a 74-70 deficit. Houston was able to answer back and led, 81-72, after three quarters.
The Rockets' Josh Smith hit an early fourth quarter three that put Houston up 84-72, and he signaled the Hawks crowd to quiet down. He was a member of the Hawks from his rookie year in 2004 to the summer of 2013. Houston was on an 8-0 run.
Atlanta then got it back into single digits off of a Schroder jumper to make it 87-76. Mike Scott was ice cold through three quarters but caught fire in the fourth. Two three balls by him made it a 90-83 Houston lead with 6:57 left in the game. Atlanta was on a 12-3 run. The Hawks were then able to make the Houston lead 90-88 off of a Teague layup, and they captured the lead, 93-90, off of a Paul Millsap three pointer. Donatas Motiejunas quickly answered back for Houston and tied it at 96. DeMarre Carroll then hit a clutch three to put Atlanta up, 96-93, with two minutes left.
The game was tied once again off of a Trevor Ariza three, but Atlanta regained the lead off of an Al Horford jumper and led the rest of the way. Two free throws by Dennis Schroder sealed the 104-96 win for the Hawks.
The Hawks played as a unit once again to come up with another big win in the fourth quarter. They are now riding a five-game winning streak and will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 6th. Atlanta has the best record in the NBA at 48-12. The Rockets fall to 41-19 and remain third in the West. They will take on the Grizzlies at home on March 4th.