Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) goes up for a shot against…
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Darren Collison returned to the Kings after a five-game absence, hitting a big three to bring the Kings within two in the games final minute.
Atlanta’s surge was led by Schroder, who had 11 of his 14 first-half points in the second period, and Millsap, who had nine of his 15 points in the period.
Though Justin Holiday (making his first start for Atlanta) began the night with two consecutive threes, it was largely a sluggish start for the home team. The win was the Hawks’ 15th straight over the Kings and ninth in a row in Atlanta. Holiday set the tone early for the Hawks, connecting on two early three-pointers to account for Atlanta’s first six points of the game.
However, the second stanza would belong to Atlanta and the re-emergent Dennis Schroder.
Atlanta led by as many as 11 (73-62) with 8:05 left in the third quarter, but the Kings outrebounded the Hawks 19-11 in the period.
Entering the fourth, Atlanta held a slim two point lead.
Millsap helped secured the win when he scored on a drive to the basket with 15.7 seconds left to thwart a late Sacramento comeback attempt. A layup by Dennis Schröder with 6:31 remaining capped a 6-0 run to give the Hawks a 10-point lead, and while it was not entirely safe, the margin was placed into safer territory when Thabo Sefolosha found Lamar Patterson for a cutting lay-up to take an 11-point lead with 2:49 remaining.
The Kings responded by going on a 9-0 run, putting Atlanta on the cusp of another tough defeat.
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With the loss, Sacramento dropped to 4-8 on the season. Atlanta travels to Cleveland on Saturday for the first meeting between last year’s Eastern Conference finalists.
