Devin Harris scored a season-high 24 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Utah Jazz 103-95 after coming back from a 15-point deficit in the second half.
Josh Smith scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Hawks, with Lou Williams adding 14 points. Ivan Johnson contributed 13 points and Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia finished with 12 points each.
"It's huge for us," Harris, who added five assists, shot seven out of eight attempts from the floor and hit four 3-pointers to help Atlanta snap a four-game losing streak, said. "It builds character. It brings a team together."
For the Jazz, Randy Foye was the leading scorer with 25 points. Al Jefferson scored 23 points and chipped in 10 rebounds and Paul Milsap finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, but could not improve Utah's record on the road, which is now 8-15.
"This is a game we were needed to take care of," the Associated Press quoted Jefferson as saying. "We had them down, we should have just buried them then. I think we got away from what we had been doing. We turned the ball over too much. We got away from our defense."
The Jazz outscored the Hawks 25-22 in the first quarter. They extended their lead to 47-43 to enter the second half by outscoring Atlanta 22-21 again in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, the Jazz scored 29 points and limited the Hawks to 25 to lead 76-67, with Utah, at one point having a sizeable 15-point lead.
"We got a 15-point lead, we thought the game was over," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "You have to play 48 minutes."
Atlanta center Horford put his team in the lead for the first time in the game by making consecutive baskets in the second half. His second score gave the Hawks a 94-92 lead with 2:44 left in the final quarter.
Utah's Jamaal Tinsley cut Atlanta's lead to 96-95 by hitting a free throw. Soon Smith had a jumper and Williams shot a 3-pointer to extend the Hawks' lead, and Atlanta outshined the Jazz 35-19 to win the game by eight points.
"This game was clearly about our defense," Hawks coach Larry Drew asserted. "It's what we've been preaching from the very beginning, being active, having active hands and just trying to cause havoc. We were a little tentative at times, but when it counted we got aggressive. We got feisty."
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