Hawks take care of business, crush Nets by 34 points

Key moment

The Hawks allowed the Nets to hang around, and they took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter. But they blew the game open in the final frame, going on an 18-6 run.

Hawks forward Corey Kispert hit a 3-pointer from the left corner before sinking a pair of free throws. Alexander-Walker drained his third 3 of the night before McCollum made a layup.

Kispert made another 3 before the Nets called a timeout with 8:36 to play in the game. But the Hawks kept on running up the score before Okongwu hit a dunk to put the Hawks up 27 with 6:07 to play.

Highlight play

The Hawks have greatly benefited from the poise that McCollum brings to the rotation. With under 40 seconds to play in the third quarter, Nets guard Ben Saraf deflected McCollum’s dribble into the backcourt.

McCollum tracked it down, but even with the shot clock winding down, the veteran didn’t speed up the play. Instead, he brought the ball back up the court before stepping into a 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer went off.

What they said

“I know we’re kind of in the rat race. Play our basketball, move the ball. Defensively, make sure we’re staying engaged and locked in. They thrive on transition. They thrive on turnovers, and they got out and ran a little bit. They cut into our lead a couple times because of lack of ball movement. I missed a layup that kind of started their run in the second quarter. But I think all in all, we did a pretty good job of controlling the game and did enough to win. Now we go back home and take care of business.” -- McCollum to Matt Winer on the FanDuel broadcast on how the Hawks avoided a trap game.

“Obviously, Dyson (Daniels) and Nickeil are the head of the snake, so to speak, without a two-headed snake. But I think it, you know, it raises other guys’ level when you see someone working like that. So we’ve got Gabe (Vincent) comes in and picks up, and I thought Jonathan (Kuminga) tonight was terrific defensively. We just got to make sure we have good offensive possessions and don’t turn it over, so we get a chance to set our defense.” -- Hawks coach Quin Snyder to FanDuel’s Bob Rathbun on the Hawks’ defensive pressure.

Up next

The Hawks host the Knicks on Monday night at State Farm Arena.

Standings watch

The Hawks, 76ers and Hornets all won their games on Friday night. The Hawks’ win kept them 1½ games in front of the 76ers and two games ahead of the Raptors, who were on track to beat the Grizzlies on Friday. The Raptors’ win would pull them back within 1½ games of the Hawks.

Meanwhile, the Hornets’ win pulled them within one game of the Raptors for the seventh seed.

The Magic, who dropped to the ninth seed after their loss to the Hawks, led the Mavericks in Dallas. A win over the Mavericks would give the Magic a little extra cushion over the Heat, who don’t play until Saturday afternoon.