HOUSTON — Al Horford had 30 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 121-115 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.
Atlanta trailed by 19 early in the game before rallying for the victory. Kent Bazemore added 26 points and Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague both had 22 as the Hawks won for the seventh time in eight games.
Dwight Howard led Houston with 30 points and 16 rebounds, while James Harden had 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Atlanta took a lead late in the fourth quarter and employed the hack-a strategy, intentionally fouling Howard and Clint Capela repeatedly. The strategy was largely successful until Howard made a free throw to take the lead with just over two minutes remaining.
Atlanta then scored the final nine points of the game to steal the road victory.
Playing in their third back-to-back in less than three weeks, the weary Hawks allowed a season-high 41 first-quarter points. Houston led 71-56 at halftime, but Atlanta's defense buckled down in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to seven to enter the fourth.
Houston scored a season-high 71 points in the first half.
Kyle Korver's shooting slump continued for Atlanta. After going 0-for-8 from the 3-point line on Monday night, Korver went 0-for-10 in the game. Korver is 2 for 26 in his last four games, one of the worst shooting stretches of his career. After leading the league in 3-point percentage last season at 49.2 percent, Korver is having his worst shooting season in nearly six years, shooting under 39 percent.
With Korver struggling, the Hawks made just 14 of 41 3-pointers. Every Hawks starter besides Korver scored at least 20 points for Atlanta.
TIP-INS
Hawks: C Tiago Splitter missed his second straight game with a mild right calf strain but is expected to return Sunday when the Hawks visit the Knicks. ... Millsap had a season-high five blocked shots. ... Atlanta had 10 steals and forced 19 turnovers.
Rockets: Houston was without Terrence Jones, who was sidelined with an illness after being a game-time decision. ... The Rockets have now lost four straight against Atlanta. ... Houston put an emphasis on its post-up game and played two centers for much of the game but was outscored 50-46 in the paint.
UP NEXT
Hawks: At New York on Sunday.
