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Red-hot Hawks down Clippers

Dec 24, 2014 - 5:05 AM Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMarre Carroll scored a career-high 25 points and the Atlanta Hawks closed out a tough five-game stretch with their fifth straight win, rallying from 13 down in the second half to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 107-104 on Tuesday night.

Al Horford added 20 points and Paul Millsap scored 17 for the Hawks, who took the lead for good on Kyle Korver's 3-pointer a minute into the fourth quarter and held on down the stretch to post their 14th win in 15 games.

Blake Griffin scored 21 points to lead Los Angeles, but missed an off-balance 3-pointer as time expired after the Clippers bumbled an inbounds pass with 6.4 seconds remaining.

DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 22 rebounds in the loss, the Clippers' fifth in their last eight games.

Carroll scored 10 of his 25 points in the third quarter to help pull Atlanta out of its 13-point hole.

"They played well. They came back," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. "We had to sub at some point. ... They made more plays."

The Hawks have beaten five winning teams on their current streak, including the last four while leading scorer Jeff Teague has battled a strained left hamstring. Teague returned Tuesday following a three-game absence but came off the bench, scoring nine points in 24 minutes.

Atlanta's 14-1 stretch started almost a month ago, on Nov. 28, and has the Hawks on top of the Southeast Division.

They have won eight in a row at home.

"We need to get better defensively, but I think in these last couple of weeks we've shown improvement," said Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer. "We have guys who step up every night and make big plays. But we've got a lot of work left and a long way to go."

J.J. Redick pump-faked Horford behind the 3-point line and leaned into him to draw a foul with 15.2 seconds left and a chance to trim LA's lead to one. But he missed the first of the three free throws.

Matt Barnes tied up Korver near the baseline after the inbounds pass to force a jump ball, which Korver won. After Horford made one of two free throws to extend Atlanta's lead to three, he got a hand on LA's inbounds pass at the other end.

Chris Paul saved the ball for the Clippers, but Griffin's desperation shot from near the right sideline hit off the backboard and the rim as time ran out.

Earlier, Griffin scored nine points in the first quarter for Los Angeles, but the Hawks shot better than 56 percent for a 31-25 lead going into the second.

The Clippers used a 25-5 run in the second quarter to turn a 10-point deficit into a 10-point lead. Jamal Crawford scored eight points early in the flurry and Jordan added six, helping the Clippers to a 55-45 advantage. They led 57-50 at halftime.

Game Notes

Korver scored 14 ... Paul had 19 points and seven assists and Redick and Crawford each scored 18 for LA ... The Clippers start a nine-game homestand on Christmas against Golden State ... The Hawks host Milwaukee on Friday to open a home-and-home set.