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Hawks halt eight-game losing streak with win over Knicks

Feb 23, 2014 - 4:09 AM Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Scott racked up a career-high 30 points and Jeff Teague had 28, with the duo's efforts allowing the Atlanta Hawks to halt an eight-game losing streak with a 107-98 win over the New York Knicks at Philips Arena.

Scott drained an impressive 6-of-7 3-point attempts and finished 11-of-14 from the field in just 30 minutes off the bench. Teague, who sat out Friday's setback at Detroit with a sprained ankle, added six assists in Atlanta's first victory since Feb. 1.

"Any team that has lost a few games in a row ... six, seven, eight, whatever it was, it's just a good feeling," Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. "For them to be reward for how hard they're working, for their character, their competitiveness, it's nice to see that."

The Hawks also received a career-best 24 points from DeMarre Carroll and 14 from Lou Williams in handing New York its fifth loss in six games. The Knicks concluded a four-game road trip at 1-3.

"Right now we're digging ourselves in a much deeper hole," said New York's Carmelo Anthony. "It's not early in the season anymore, so we can't use that excuse."

Anthony continued his recent scoring binge with a 35-point effort in defeat, with Raymond Felton registering 16 points and 10 assists for the Knicks.

New York led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter and owned a 73-62 advantage late in the period, but surrendered 39 points in the fourth as the Hawks came storming back.

Atlanta moved ahead to stay by virtue of a 20-2 run that spanned both frames, with Williams knocking down a trio of 3-pointers to key the surge. Two of them came in between makes from Scott and Teague from beyond the arc as the Hawks began the final quarter with four straight triples, with Teague following the barrage with a pair of free throws that put the hosts up 82-75 with nine minutes left.

The Knicks got within four points on two occasions, the last coming after a J.R. Smith trey cut the deficit to 85-81 with 7:15 to go. It was a six-point spread with 3 1/2 minutes left, but Teague drove the lane and scored and Scott buried a short turnaround jumper to extend the margin to 99-89 and keep New York at bay.

"Finding a way to finish out games, finish out quarters, is something that we have to do these next 20-something games we have," Anthony said.

Atlanta opened the second quarter with a 9-0 surge to open up a 33-23 lead early in the stanza, but the Knicks embarked on a 29-6 tear over the remainder of the half. Anthony and Amare Stoudemire each netted eight points during the burst, with the latter's hook shot with 1:01 left in the session sending New York into the break owning a 52-39 cushion.

Anthony then opened the third quarter with a jumper and Felton followed with one of his own to increase New York's lead to 17 points.

Game Notes

Atlanta forward Paul Millsap sat out the contest with a right knee contusion ... The Hawks finished 16-of-31 from 3-point range, with Carroll going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and Williams making 3-of-7 tries ... Teague ended 13-of-15 from the final line ... Tyson Chandler pulled down 23 rebounds for the Knicks ... Prior to the game, the Hawks signed center Dexter Pittman to a 10- day contract while waiving guard Jared Cunningham ... The Knicks had won six of the last seven meetings between the clubs.