The Atlanta Hawks extended their winning streak to eight games with a 108-97 victory over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night, powered by a near triple-double performance from Jalen Johnson.

Johnson finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as Atlanta secured its longest winning streak since March 2021. Zaccharie Risacher added 19 points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18 points. CJ McCollum contributed 14 points and Onyeka Okongwu added 13 for the Hawks, who briefly fell behind early in the fourth quarter before pulling away.

The Nets were led by a strong bench performance from Josh Minott, who scored 24 points. Drake Powell added 11 points, while Ben Saraf and Noah Clowney each scored 10. Brooklyn has now lost 12 of its past 14 games.

Brooklyn trimmed a seven-point deficit to one when Clowney knocked down a 3-pointer with 8:27 remaining in the third quarter, forcing Atlanta to call a timeout. The Hawks responded by pushing their lead to 10, but Minott’s third 3-pointer tied the game at 74 with 3:37 left in the period.

A buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Tyson Etienne cut Atlanta’s lead to 82-79 heading into the final quarter.

The Nets briefly seized momentum early in the fourth. Just over a minute into the period, Saraf converted a turnaround hook shot to give Brooklyn its first lead since the opening minutes at 83-82. Atlanta quickly regained control with a decisive 10-0 run, highlighted by six points from McCollum, to build a nine-point advantage with 8:35 remaining.

A layup from E.J. Liddell brought the Nets within five, but Johnson sparked an 11-0 Atlanta surge by scoring nine points during the stretch, pushing the Hawks ahead 106-91 with 2:08 left. Risacher’s putback layup in the final minute sealed the win.

Atlanta set the tone early, jumping out to a 17-7 lead behind 3-pointers from Gabe Vincent and Risacher during an 11-0 run. Brooklyn responded after the first quarter, cutting a nine-point deficit to three when Nicolas Claxton scored on a floater with nine minutes left in the first half.

The Hawks rebuilt their advantage to 12 after Risacher’s putback layup and Vincent’s pull-up 3-pointer. Alexander-Walker later drilled a 3-pointer to give Atlanta a 57-47 lead before Minott closed the half with a buzzer-beating triple, trimming Brooklyn’s deficit to seven.

Risacher led all scorers with 16 points in the first half, while Minott paced the Nets with 10.

—Field Level Media/Reuters