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Warriors hold off Hawks

Mar 1, 2012 - 4:14 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - David Lee scored 22 points, including the go- ahead layup inside the final minute, and pulled down 12 rebounds as the Golden State Warriors held off the Atlanta Hawks, 85-82, at Philips Arena.

Monta Ellis added a game-high 24 points for the Warriors, who won for the third time in four games.

"I thought we did a great job defensively of competing tonight," said Lee. "We had some tough matchups and we held guys to low shooting percentages. That's what we got to do."

Joe Johnson, who returned from a two-game absence because of tendinitis in his left knee, dropped in 18 points to pace five double-digit scorers for Atlanta, which lost its sixth contest in eight tries.

Golden State held a 48-38 advantage at the half, but Atlanta battled back in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 15-6 run to close the gap to 54-53.

Ekpe Udoh's jumper followed by a pair of Dorell Wright free throws put the Warriors back on top by five, but Atlanta stayed within striking distance and trailed, 64-61, at the end of the third.

The team's traded buckets over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter until the Hawks recorded five straight points to trail, 72-71, with 3:24 left in the game.

Golden State held the Hawks off again with a Lee layup, but Atlanta had an answer for every Warrior basket and managed to knot the game at 78 with 52.4 seconds showing on the clock when Zaza Pachulia followed a Jeff Teague missed shot with a putback layup.

Teague almost had a steal on the Warriors' ensuing possession, but he knocked the ball out of bounds. Then, coming out of a timeout with five seconds left on the shot clock, Lee grabbed the inbounds pass a sank a driving layup with 30.1 seconds left in the game to put Golden State on top for good.

Teague passed up an open three-pointer at the top of the key on the Hawks' next touch and opted to drive to the lane instead, but his floater from the lane rimmed out and Brandon Rush grabbed the rebound for the Warriors, who went 5-for-6 from the foul line down the final stretch to hang on for the win.

"We had a tough shooting night," Johnson said about the Hawks, who shot just 33.7 percent in the game. "We weren't making [jump shots], so it was tough."

Atlanta opened the game with a 10-2 run to jump out to an early lead, but the Warriors responded with a 16-5 swing that included seven points by Ellis to take an 18-15 advantage with a little over two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The Hawks, though, closed out the frame with a 6-2 spurt and held a 21-20 lead entering the second quarter.

After Marvin Williams started the second with a driving layup to put Atlanta ahead by three, the Warriors reeled off 10 straight points to retake the lead, 30-23.

A Pachulia layup stopped the run, but Atlanta would not get closer than five for the remainder of the half as Golden State gradually pulled away while the Hawks struggled from the floor.

Teague's three-pointer with a little under five minutes left in the second quarter brought the Hawks within 38-33, but Atlanta would not record another field goal in the half.

Golden State took advantage by outscoring the Hawks, 10-5, over the final 4 1/2 minutes of the second quarter en route to a 48-38 advantage at the break.

Game Notes

Teague finished with 15 points and Pachulia had 13 for Atlanta...Dominic McGuire pulled down 15 rebounds for Golden State but did not record a point...The Warriors improved to 5-9 on the road this season, while the Hawks fell to 10-6 at home...Golden State held a 53-50 advantage on the glass.