Young Hawks grow up in win over Spurs

Three Hawks finished with double-doubles, led by Zaza Pachulia’s 19 points and 13 rebounds. Josh Childress chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Al Harrington added 11 points and 11 boards for the Hawks, who snapped a seven- game losing streak.

Tyronn Lue tied a season-high with 16 points off the bench in the victory.

"We are trying to give it our all and play as hard as we can," Atlanta forward Josh Smith said. "He (head coach Mike Woodson) has taught us well and he is grooming the young guys to be successful in this league."

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 20 points, while his backcourt mate Manu Ginobili tallied 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss.

Tim Duncan scored 12 points and hauled in 10 boards, while Bruce Bowen tallied a season-high 13 points for the Spurs, who had a six-game winning streak snapped.

The Hawks soared to an eight-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Childress’ jump shot and Pachulia’s layup gave Atlanta a five-point lead, then after Michael Finley’s jumper, Childress converted a three-point play. Lue drained a jumper to give Atlanta a 84-76 edge with just over seven minutes remaining.

With under three minutes left, Ginobili made 1-of-2 free throws, then Childress drained a jump shot to give Atlanta an 88-81 advantage with 1:44 to go.

After Parker drained two free throws, Harrington converted a layup to push the lead back to seven with just under a minute to go. Ginobili made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, but Lue drained both free throws on the other end to make the score 92-84 with just under forty seconds left.

San Antonio didn’t get any closer, as it missed its last 10 field goal attempts, including four in the last forty seconds.

"It’s a great win for them," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. "I thought their team was really well prepared and just kicked our butt in every way, shape and form."

Taking a 23-15 advantage into the second period, San Antonio pushed out to a 14-point lead behind hot shooting. The Spurs made five straight shots to take a 41-27 edge on Duncan’s layup with just over 5 1/2 minutes to go.

Atlanta finished the half on a 9-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 48-42. Harrington converted a three-point play and drained a mid-range jumper and Johnson scored the final four points of the run.

Johnson led all scorers with 16 points, as the Hawks rebounded from a poor shooting first quarter to connect on 47.5 percent of their shots.

The lead changed hands several times during the third quarter and San Antonio took a 71-69 advantage to the fourth stanza.

Game Notes

The loss was San Antonio’s first in December (5-1)...Smith returned from a two-game suspension for elbowing Phoenix guard Raja Bell during Tuesday’s 112-94 loss...Atlanta is 2-6 at Philips Arena, while San Antonio dropped to 7-3 on the road...The Hawks made 22-of-28 from the foul line, while the Spurs hit on just 12-of-22 attempts.