Korver leads Hawks over Houston 104-97

HOUSTON -- The Atlanta Hawks won for the 12th time in 13 games on Saturday night, beating the Houston Rockets 104-97. The victory gave the Hawks 19 wins this season.

They're not quite ready to celebrate their success though.

''We've had a nice start to the season, but the season's only a couple of months old,'' Kyle Korversaid. ''We had a losing record last year. We made the playoffs last year but we won 38 games. So by no means are we like happy with ourselves. But I think we feel good about what we're building.''

Korver scored 22 points, including seven points late, to help the Hawks win on Saturday night.

The game was tied with three minutes left before Atlanta used a 7-0 run to make it 97-90 with just under a minute to go. Korver hit one of his four 3-pointers during that run.

Atlanta made seven free throws down the stretch, with four from Korver, to secure the victory.

Korver's four free throws gave him 49 consecutive free throws without a miss to set a franchise record. The mark was previously held by Tom McMillan, who hit 47 in a row in 1978-79. Korver's last miss came on November 7.

The Hawks led by 16 points, but Houston used a big third quarter to tie it entering the fourth. The teams stayed close throughout the fourth quarter, with the lead changing or the game being tied several times before Atlanta put it away in the final minutes.

''We were able to get a cushion which really helps you on the road,'' coach Mike Budenholzer said. ''And to keep our poise when they make a run back at us ... and find a way to get back in control of the game is a good sign for a team.''

Dwight Howard had 19 points and 11 rebounds and James Harden added 18 points with a season-high 14 assists for the Rockets who lost their second straight game.

''The last couple of games the ball hasn't been falling the way we wanted it to and the defense hasn't been where we need it to be, but we can't lose focus,'' Howard said.

Al Horford and Paul Millsap added 14 points each for Atlanta.

The Hawks scored seven consecutive points capped by a 3-pointer from Korver that made it 81-76 early in the fourth quarter.

The Hawks led 67-54 with about five minutes left in the third quarter when Houston, which leads the league in 3-pointers, got hot from long range. The Rockets went on a 20-7 run to tie it at 74-74 entering the fourth thanks to four 3-pointers, including consecutive ones from Terry.

Houston scored the first nine points of the third quarter to get within 52-49. Harden started it with a 3-pointer and helped cap it with an alley-oop to Howard. The Hawks couldn't do anything right in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second quarter and had four turnovers.

They finally got it together and used a 12-3 spurt to push the lead to 64-52 midway through the period.

The Hawks led by eight points in the second quarter before scoring eight straight points to extend the lead to 47-31 with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Houston had a turnover and missed numerous shots, including a layup as Atlanta padded the lead.

The Rockets finally got going after that, using a 9-1 run powered by three 3-pointers, to cut the lead to 48-40.

Atlanta led 52-40 at halftime.

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TIP-INS

Hawks: Jeff Teague missed his second straight game with a strained left hamstring. ... DeMarre Carroll had 13 points.

Rockets: Terrence Jones (left leg nerve inflammation) remains out for Houston. ... Terry had four 3-pointers to give him 1,999 in his career. ... Houston scored a season-low 14 points and shot just 18.2 percent in the second quarter.

NEW FACES: New Rockets Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved, who were acquired in a three-team trade on Friday, were at the Toyota Center on Saturday night. But neither could play because Troy Daniels, who Houston traded to Minnesota in the deal hadn't yet taken his physical to finalize the trade. Brewer came to Houston from the Timberwolves and Shved was playing for the 76ers. Both were excited to go from struggling teams to a playoff contender.

UP NEXT

Hawks: Visit Dallas on Monday.

Rockets: Host Portland on Monday.