Dyson Daniels absent as Hawks extend streak and a Thursday night in Atlanta tilts away from Brooklyn
Dyson Daniels never stepped onto the floor Thursday night in Atlanta, listed out with a sprained toe, but his absence still hung over the rotation as the Hawks held off the Brooklyn Nets 108-97 and pushed the NBA’s longest current winning streak to eight games in front of a home crowd that sensed the game tightening before it broke open.
What happened Thursday night, and when did the game turn?
Atlanta built a 57-50 halftime lead, then watched Brooklyn edge ahead late. The Nets took an 83-82 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, shifting the mood from comfortable to uneasy. The response came quickly: CJ McCollum scored six points during a 10-0 run that flipped the game back toward Atlanta. From there, Brooklyn got no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 21 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Zaccharie Risacher scored 19 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 18, and McCollum finished with 14. Johnson’s imprint grew after intermission; he scored 14 points in the second half, a steadying presence as the margin narrowed and then widened again.
Why did the Hawks’ streak matter beyond one win?
The victory extended Atlanta’s winning streak to eight games, the longest current run in the NBA at the time of the game, and it also moved the Hawks into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta sat 1 1/2 games behind seventh-place Toronto, turning a single Thursday night result into a measurable step in the standings.
The streak itself had a clear starting point: it began with a win over Brooklyn on Feb. 22. That detail gave the night a looped-back feel—Brooklyn again on the other side, Atlanta again finding enough late composure to finish, even as the game briefly threatened to slip.
Who was missing, and whose night stood out for Brooklyn?
Brooklyn played without its leading scorer, Michael Porter Jr., who was sidelined with a sprained right ankle. The Nets have lost 12 of 14, and Thursday’s night in Atlanta added another entry to that stretch, even with a standout individual performance: Josh Minott scored a career-high 24 points.
Atlanta also had to navigate an absence. The Hawks were without Dyson Daniels (sprained toe), a note that mattered not as a headline on the scoreboard but as a reality in the bench pattern and available options. Jonathan Kuminga, meanwhile, rejoined the lineup after missing three games with a bone bruise in his left knee. He recorded nine rebounds in 19 minutes, an on-court sign of availability returning even as other health questions remained.
The connective tissue between these injuries and the final score was less about replacement heroics and more about timing: in a game where Brooklyn briefly took the lead to open the fourth, Atlanta’s ability to string together a decisive run—while limiting Brooklyn’s push to within four points the rest of the way—became the defining answer. Dyson Daniels remained out, but the Hawks still found a closing gear.
