Johnson's brace lifts Hawks to rare victory at Utah



Atlanta's Joe Johnson produced a superb performance in the fourth quarter to steer the Hawks to a 105-100 win over the injury-hit Jazz on Monday - their first victory in Utah since 1993. The Hawks' All-Star guard scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in the last quarter, including the decisive three-pointer with 2:28 left. "I thought we were very composed tonight," Johnson said. "In the fourth quarter, when we did get down, we were able to not get rattled and make a run of our own and kind of close the game out."

Winners of 17 of their last 19 games entering the contest, Utah (36-20) played without their starting point guard Deron Williams (bruised right quad) and forward Andrei Kirilenko (back) but managed to compete all the way in a tightly contested affair. Paul Millsap had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead seven players in double-figures scoring for the Jazz, who led by six with less than nine minutes to play.

After Johnson gave the Hawks (35-20) a two-point lead with his late three-pointer, he then sank a 15ft shot to push the advantage to four with 37 seconds left and tacked on two free throws. Josh Smith recorded 18 points and nine rebounds while Jamal Crawford put up 17 points off the bench for Atlanta which swept their season-series with the Jazz and ended a 15-game losing streak in Utah. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson has been ruled out of action for the time being while he spends time with his sick daughter.

"At this time, we feel that it is in the best interest of the Sixers, Allen and his family that he be allowed to deal with a very serious issue that is far greater than the game of basketball," the 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski said. Iverson missed five games and the All-Star Game before returning on February 16. His daughter's illness has not been revealed. @Email:sports@thenational.ae


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