Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges (1) drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray (5) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, March 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
NEW YORK (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 38 points and the Brooklyn Nets rolled past the Atlanta Hawks for the second straight game, 114-102 on Saturday.
Cam Johnson chipped in 23 points for the Nets, who improved to 3-3 under interim coach Kevin Ollie and pulled within two games of the Hawks for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament.
“We’ve got to get as many (wins) as we can now,” Johnson said. “We put our backs against the wall, so it’s on us to dig ourselves out of that hole.”
Dennis Schroder had 14 points and eight assists, and Nic Claxton had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Brooklyn, which won for the third time in its past four games. That included a 124-97 victory over the Hawks on Thursday in the opener of the two-game series.
“These are two important games; obviously now the rest of these games are super-important, too,” Bridges said. “We know we needed these two big wins, and it just shows the fight and we just got to keep it throughout the rest of the season.”
Dejounte Murray had 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for the Hawks. Saddiq Bey scored 23 points and Clint Capela had 11 points and 10 rebounds, but Atlanta fell for the fifth time in its past seven games and lost the season series to the Nets for the seventh straight season.
“They took their physicality up a notch, and that made it harder for us to break the paint,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. ”(Brooklyn) is a team with intense size and athleticism throughout their lineup, and we just have to be better.”
Bridges scored at least 30 points in three of the four meetings this season.
After trailing nearly the entire first half, Brooklyn took over in the second half with defense. Atlanta made just 13…
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