Atlanta Hawks rode on Jeff Teague's career-high 28 points and 11 assists to score a 109-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Atlanta managed to win even in the absence of their leading scorer Josh Smith, who was suspended for one game for "conduct detrimental to the team."
The Hawks took an early 13-4 lead and outscored the Nets 27-20 behind Teague in the first quarter.
"Early you could see that the energy was there," the Associated Press quoted coach Larry Drew as saying. "They came out and took the attack to Brooklyn. You have to play like that when you've been struggling."
The Hawks offense disappointed in the previous game with a huge 97-58 defeat Monday at the hands of Chicago, but against the Nets they scored more than 100 points.
"Obviously, everybody was embarrassed by the effort we gave in the last game," said Devin Harris, who had 18 points.
Zaza Pachulia added 13 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight assists, while Al Horford finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds as Atlanta dominated the game in both defense and offense.
"They outplayed us in pretty much all the aspects of the game," Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "They were very, very aggressive. They really shared the ball. The ball moved very, very well."
For the Nets, Brook Lopez was the top scorer with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Joe Johnson added 15 points with Deron Williams and Andray Blatche scoring 12 points apiece.
It is interesting to note that the three games Smith has missed this season, the Hawks have managed to win all of them comprehensively.
"Tonight we were good," Drew said. "With Josh we're better. That's just the bottom line. It will be good to get Josh back. Tomorrow when Josh shows up, he will get a big hug from me."
Atlanta scored 29 points in the second quarter and stopped the Nets at 20 to enter the second half with a 16-point lead. The Hawks extended the lead to 73-47 midway through the third quarter, before the Nets charged back.
Brooklyn's Williams made a three to bring back the score to 99-87 in the fourth quarter. The Nets outscored the Hawks 26-21, but just could not claw back the deficit enough to challenge in the game.
"They were a very, very good team tonight without Josh," Carlesimo said. "You've got to think they're going to be a better team when they add a player of his caliber on Friday."
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