Nets fall to Hawks, 106-101

NEWARK -- The Hawks have seen the Nets so much this season, it has the feeling of a playoff series, and a sweep at that.

Josh Smith scored a season-high 26 points and the Hawks shot nearly 54 percent from the field Monday nightin beating the Nets for the third time this season, 106-101.

"It's always toughest to play a team a third time around," said Smith, who shot 10-for-14 in topping his season high for the second straight game. "It almost had the feel of being a semi-playoff game. We took over the game early, but they put their best effort for us. They always play hard. I just didn't want to get disappointed and lose this one. This is probably the best game I've played here."

It might have been one of the Nets' better games, too. They scored 100 points for the first time this season and made the Hawks work for the victory.

The Nets cut a 100-88 deficit to five points with 30 seconds to play, four with 11.1 seconds to go and three with 4.2 seconds remaining after a three-pointer by Anthony Morrow. But Joe Johnson iced the game with two free throws.

The teams will finish their four-game series March 23 in Atlanta, and the Nets should have center Brook Lopez back in the lineup by then. He has missed the start of the season with a broken foot and it has forced the Nets to take more shots from the outside than they would like.

"That has been like an epidemic for us this year, and we got to do a better job," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "But again, our guys battled."

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The Hawks noticed. "They're an improving team, even though they're missing a big piece in Brook," said Johnson (22 points). "Each game with them has been tough. They don't make it easy for us."

Jeff Teague added 20 points, Al Horford had 14 points and nine rebounds and Vladimir Radmanovic had 14 points for the Hawks. Morrow had 20 points and rookie MarShon Brooks 19 as the Nets (2-8) fell to 0-4 at home. Deron Williams added 15 points and 14 assists but also had six of the Nets' 16 turnovers and was 6-for-17 from the field.

"We have to get off to a better start, obviously," Morrow said. "I don't know if it's low energy, but we're not putting a lot of pressure on defensively and offensively we are not executing. The good thing is I'm glad we fought back and got back in the game. To have to claw back like that, we should start off better and put ourselves in a better position to win the game."