NEWARK, N.J. – Devin Harris had 22 points and eight assists, and Brook Lopez added 16 points to lead the New Jersey Nets to an 89-82 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
It marked the second straight time that the Nets (8-20) beat Atlanta (17-12) in Newark this season, having earned a 107-101 overtime victory Nov. 23.
The Nets went in front early in the fourth quarter and never relinquished the lead, with Lopez scoring six of his points in the final period.
Stephen Graham scored 10 points and Troy Murphy added nine, both season highs, and newly acquired Sasha Vujacic had 10 points off the bench.
Mike Bibby scored 19 points, and Al Horford and Josh Smith added 15 apiece for the Hawks, who lost for the fourth time in six games.
The Nets took the lead in the opening stages of the fourth quarter, scoring seven straight points to break a 64-64 tie. Murphy scored on a power move, followed by a 3-point play from rookie Derrick Favors and capped by a long corner jumper from Murphy, pushing the lead to 71-64 with 9:01 left. The Nets eventually pushed the lead to 83-73 on a 3-pointer by Travis Outlaw with 2:14 remaining.
Lopez was a key contributor key down the stretch, scoring both inside and then converting all four of his free throw attempts in the final two minutes.
After the two teams traded the lead seven times over the first four minutes of the game, the Hawks took the lead, thanks to a torrid start from the floor. Atlanta connected on 11 of its first 14 shots to take a 23-15 lead with 4:10 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks held a 30-23 advantage after one period, shooting 64 percent from the floor in the quarter, and increased the lead to 32-23 on two free throws from Jeff Teague to start the second period.
But the Nets went on a 13-3 run to take a 36-35 lead on two free throws from Lopez with 6:03 remaining in the half. Graham, making his just his second start of the season, scored four points during the run.
Atlanta then scored the next seven points to go up 41-36, but the two teams then traded the lead twice more and ended the first half tied 43-43.
Harris scored the first points of the second half, then Josh Smith and Bibby nailed consecutive 3-pointers to give the Hawks a 49-45 lead. Horford pushed the lead to 52-45 with a three-point play with 8:36 left in the third.
The game was then tied at 62-62 on a rebound slam from the little-used Murphy with 52 seconds remaining in the quarter.
After starting the game shooting at a sizzling pace, the Hawks made just 18 of 59 from the floor (30 percent) over the last 38 minutes of the contest. They ended the game shooting 29 of 73 from the perimeter.
NOTES: Former Wimbledon and U.S. Open tennis champion Maria Sharapova was in attendance, seated under the Nets' basket. Sharapova is engaged to newly acquired Net guard Sasha Vujacic, who was still wearing his Lakers sneakers during his second game with his new club. ... Smith didn't exactly have the same success he had the last time he faced New Jersey. On Dec. 7, he scored a season-high 34 on 14 of 16 from the floor, the best shooting performance by a Hawk player since Hall of Famer Bob Pettit in 1955. ... Jamal Crawford sat out his second straight game for the Hawks with a sore back. ... Vujacic, Graham and Murphy all had season-high point totals for the Nets. ... Kris Humphries' string of double-digit rebound games ended at five.
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