Scrappy spencer leads nets past hawks

ATLANTA — Spencer Dinwiddie did everything he could to keep the Brooklyn Nets composed in the closing seconds.

“We’ve had a little bit of a losing streak and we had some heartbreaking losses followed up obviously by the very poor showing against Detroit,” he said. “To come out here and take Atlanta’s best shot and still come away with the victory is big-time.”

Dinwiddie had 20 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, Jahlil Okafor added 17 points in a reserve role and the Nets beat the Hawks 110-105 on Friday night.

Dinwiddie made the go-ahead basket with 11 seconds left as the Nets snapped a three-game losing streak to move past an embarrassing 34-point home loss to Detroit two nights earlier. Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder finished with a career-high 34 points, but after causing matchup problems all night with his ball-handling, he missed his last two layup attempts and committed a game-ending turnover with 5 seconds remaining.

Dinwiddie, who had just two points against the Pistons, was Brooklyn’s spark, recovering from a rough stretch late in the fourth when he let Schroder glide past him for an acrobatic layup and then lost the ball out of bounds on the ensuing possession.

After Dewayne Dedmon’s 3-pointer gave the Hawks their biggest lead at five, Dinwiddie immediately answered with a 3 with 2:20 left and then took charge at the end. He grabbed a defensive rebound and drew a foul on a fast-break layup with 11 seconds remaining.

Dinwiddie missed the free throw but battled for the rebound and got fouled again. This time he hit both free throws to make it 108-105.

“Like I said, if I don’t turn it over as much and miss free throws and the easy end of layups, we ain’t even in that position,” Dinwiddie said. “So it’s really a credit to the team for picking me up.”

Okafor, in his fifth straight game and sixth overall for Brooklyn, went 6 for 8 from the field in 12 minutes. The Nets acquired Okafor in a trade early last month.

—Associated Press