Atlanta's fourth straight win looked a long way off when Brooklyn raced to a 31–14 lead in the first quarter. By the final buzzer on Saturday night, the Hawks had turned that 17-point hole into a 124–121 victory, with Jalen Johnson scoring 30 in his return from an ankle injury and a fourth-quarter surge finally breaking the Nets' resistance.
The comeback wasn't a case of Atlanta simply getting hot for one possession. Brooklyn scored 37 in the opening quarter, but the Hawks cut a double-digit first-quarter deficit to four by half-time, trailing 70–66. That mattered: rather than spending the entire second half chasing an enormous margin, Atlanta stayed within one productive run of a game that had started badly. The official NBA game box score records the final result and the teams' scoring breakdown.
Johnson's return changed the shape of Atlanta's attack. He'd missed three games with a sprained left ankle, yet produced 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists, including 12 points in the fourth quarter. His scoring gave the Hawks a reliable way to finish possessions when the game tightened. Just as importantly, his passing meant Brooklyn couldn't treat every Johnson touch as a straightforward isolation to contain. The Reuters match report confirms his return, production and late contribution.
Aaron Wiggins was another reason the Hawks survived. He scored 20 points, 12 of them in the final quarter, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker also finished with 20. That's the sort of spread that makes a comeback more convincing than one star dragging an otherwise stalled offence over the line. Atlanta won the fourth 36–26, turning a seven-point deficit entering the period into a three-point victory. Wiggins' burst supplied the immediate momentum; Johnson and Alexander-Walker helped turn it into a finish.
The lead changed hands late rather than gradually slipping away. Alexander-Walker's two free throws with 1:26 left put Atlanta ahead for the first time. Brooklyn had spent most of the night in control, so that moment shifted the pressure sharply: the Nets now had to create a response instead of merely protecting their advantage. The local Hawks game review details the late defensive plays and Wiggins' fourth-quarter contribution.
Brooklyn had enough offence to win. Michael Porter Jr. scored 25, while Julius Randle and Nolan Traoré contributed 19 apiece. Rookie Mikel Brown Jr. hit three fourth-quarter threes and finished with 18. Even after the Hawks finally moved in front, Danny Wolf's late three cut the gap to two before Onyeka Okongwu made one of two free throws to close out the scoring. The Nets' problem wasn't a shortage of players who could make a shot; it was finding enough stops and organised possessions when Atlanta's pressure rose.
There's a useful distinction between Atlanta's previous wins and this one. The Hawks didn't need an early lead or an uninterrupted scoring rhythm. They absorbed a damaging start, got their returning forward involved immediately and found fourth-quarter points from multiple players. For a team building momentum, winning in that fashion says something different from cruising home with a comfortable advantage.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, will be frustrated by how much of the match it controlled. A 17-point opening-quarter lead and a seven-point advantage after three quarters should provide a platform, not a warning sign. Atlanta's closing execution made the difference. Johnson's 30-point return will headline the result, but the more encouraging Hawks takeaway is that their late-game offence had several answers when one alone wouldn't have been enough.
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