National Basketball Association
Brooklyn 116, Atlanta 104
When: 3:30 PM ET, Sunday, October 22, 2017
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Officials: #27 Mitchell Ervin, #37 Eric Dalen, #16 David Guthrie
Attendance: 13917

NEW YORK -- Allen Crabbe's minutes may be restricted due to a preseason ankle injury, but there is not a restraint on giving him the green light to shoot.

It showed Sunday when Crabbe produced 20 points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:37 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks 116-104.

Crabbe played 25:38 but was highly productive when he was on the court. He struggled to get into rhythm as a starter Friday in a win over Orlando but was willing to be a reserve Sunday and thrived by hitting 7 of 12 shots and four of Brooklyn's 11 3-pointers.

None was bigger than the one he hit down the stretch.

Atlanta tied the game at 99-99 when Marco Belinelli hit a 3-pointer with 5:37 remaining. After DeMarre Carroll blocked Dennis Schroder's layup with 4:42 remaining, D'Angelo Russell grabbed the rebound and made a nifty cross-court pass to Crabbe.

"They give me the green light to shoot the ball, so it's not going to hurt me to get them up," said Crabbe, who scored a combined 21 points in his first two games. "The basket looks bigger and bigger after each one I make."

Crabbe finished the play by hitting a left corner 3-pointer as two defenders closed out on him. He started a game-ending 17-5 run and for good measure hit another 3-pointer 50 seconds later as the Nets (2-1) became the first team since the 1988-89 Portland Trail Blazers to score at least 115 points in each of their first three games.

"I saw the defender move back a little bit," Crabbe said. "At first I was kind of hesitant. I didn't think I was going to shoot it, but then it was like, 'Why not shoot it, it's not like they're going to get mad for shooting the ball.' I just shot it."

Crabbe produced his 12th career game with at least 20 points, and his two big shots occurred after the Nets missed 15 of their first 17 shots in the fourth quarter and blew a pair of 16-point leads in the third.

"His minutes aren't at a peak where I think it will go, so to avoid him sitting for longer stretches, we thought it was a good idea to bring him off the bench, and he was on board," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said. "He was like, 'Last game I was sitting on the pine a little too long.' So, it was kind of a coach-player decision, and it worked out tonight. He got his rhythm going."

Besides the efficient Crabbe, four others reached double figures for the Nets, who shot 47.1 percent from the floor.

Carroll added 17 points while Russell collected 16 points and 10 assists for his fourth career double-double. Caris LeVert also added 16 while reserve Trevor Booker contributed 14.

After blowing a 20-point lead Friday in Charlotte, the Hawks struggled to get a shooting rhythm and shot 34 percent, their fifth-lowest percentage since coach Mike Budenholzer took over in the 2013-14 season.

Belinelli led the Hawks with 19 points, and Schroder added 17. Kent Bazemore contributed 16, but he and Schroder were a combined 0 of 7 from 3-point range.

"We started the game real aggressive on offense and defense," Belinelli said. "Then I don't know why in the third quarter, end of the second, too, we stopped moving the ball. We stopped playing defense altogether, so we can't do that."

Schroder shot 5 of 22 and injured his left ankle with 3:37 remaining while getting fouled by LeVert on a drive to the rim.

The Hawks trailed by double digits for the final 4:15 of the third and the Nets held a 91-77 lead going into the fourth. Atlanta then made seven of its first 11 shots in the fourth before Crabbe's tiebreaking shot.

"Our group in the fourth quarter I thought was probably the most together group," Budenholzer said. "They were really doing everything that they could to get back in the game."

NOTES: Hawks G Dennis Schroder told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he likely will sit out the Hawks' Monday game at Miami due to a bone bruise in his left foot, but he doesn't think the injury is serious. ... Brooklyn F DeMarre Carroll is the only player who played under both coaches in Sunday's game. Carroll was in Atlanta for Mike Budenholzer's first two seasons when Nets coach Kenny Atkinson was an assistant there. ... Nets G Caris LeVert made his 27th career start and fourth against Atlanta, his most against any opponent. ... The Hawks made 33 of 36 free throws, finishing at better than 80 percent for the third consecutive game. ... Hawks C Miles Plumlee (strained right quad) missed his third straight game. ... Rookie C Jarrett Allen's four blocks matched the most by any Nets reserve from last season.
Top Game Performances
 
Atlanta   Brooklyn
Marco Belinelli 19 Scoring Allen Crabbe 20
Dennis Schroder 8 Assists D'Angelo Russell 10
John Collins 13 Rebounds Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 7
Kent Bazemore 8 Free Throws Made DeMarre Carroll 7
Ersan Ilyasova 2 Steals Caris LeVert 3
Kent Bazemore 1 Blocks Jarrett Allen 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Atlanta 104 34.0 7-27 33-36 21 48 2 6 16
Brooklyn 116 47.1 11-27 23-34 27 51 8 12 18
Upcoming Games
  • Brooklyn will play their next game on the road against Orlando. The Nets have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Atlanta will play their next game on the road against Miami. The Hawks have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.