The Hawks came into the Sleep Train Arena fresh off of a 91-86 win against the Lakers in Los Angeles in which they rested three starters. Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, and DeMarre Carroll were back in action tonight, but Kyle Korver and Al Horford were out. Korver suffered a broken nose against the Lakers and is expected to miss three games, while Horford was given the night off. Nonetheless, the Hawks earned their third win out of their six-game road trip in Sacramento versus a tough Kings team.
The Hawks started the first quarter with a 12-7 lead, but the Kings quickly answered and took the lead at 14-12. They went on to lead for the rest of the quarter. Nik Stauskas knocked down two three balls for Sacramento in the period and helped build a 29-23 lead as a result of a 10-2 run. The Kings led the Hawks, 29-28, at the end of the first quarter. Hawks' guard Shelvin Mack knocked down a three at the buzzer to cut the deficit to one point.
Atlanta took the lead early in the second quarter at 30-29. Andre Miller then hit a three that put Sacramento up, 32-30. The Kings received great contributions from Miller off the bench as he posted 16 points. Ben McLemore added a mid-range jumper that made it 34-30. Sacramento was dominating on the offensive boards with the help of center DeMarcus Cousins. He totaled 20 points and 13 rebounds for the game. A Jeff Teague three-pointer helped the Hawks gain a 46-41 lead with 4:35 left in the half and then increased the lead to nine points at 50-41 off of two free throws. The Hawks went into halftime with a 56-47 lead.
Omri Casspi hit a three early in the third quarter that would make the Hawks' lead 56-50. Casspi totaled 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting. Paul Millsap found an answer for Atlanta, as he executed on an and-one play that put them up, 63-54, with 7:09 left. The Hawks got their first double-digit lead off of a Kent Bazemore three pointer that made it 66-56. Their biggest lead was 13 points as a result of a Pero Antic free throw. The Kings then received a push from Jason Thompson off the bench who shot 100 percent on 7 for 7 shooting. Thompson had 18 points off the bench. He made an and-one play that cut the lead to 80-76. Sacramento was on a 10-2 run. The Kings were trailing 82-76 at the end of three quarters.
The Kings cut the deficit to two points at 82-80 early in the final quarter. Atlanta was able to get breathing room as a result of three-pointers by Shelvin Mack and DeMarre Carroll that put them up, 96-91, with 4:30 left. Andre Miller knocked down a layup to make it 96-95 with three minutes left, but the Hawks executed at the three-point line once again. DeMarre Carroll and Kent Bazemore knocked down two big shots behind the arc to put the Hawks up 103-99 with 1:06 left. Nik Stauskas was then fouled by Jeff Teague with 18 seconds left on a three-point shot but made two out of the three free throws. Teague then sealed the game with a pair of free throws that made it a 110-103 game.