ATLANTA, March 20 (Ticker) -- Faced with a game they had to have, the Utah Jazz got what they needed from their bench.

NBA TV highlights from
Jazz-Hawks:
56k | 300k
Raul Lopez and fellow reserve Raja Bell combined for 10 points in a pivotal fourth-quarter run as the Jazz rallied for an 87-81 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Jazz (36-34) moved into a tie with Denver for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Utah has not missed the playoffs since 1983.

Utah trailed, 72-65, with 8:55 to go when a jumper by Bell, who scored 18 points, ignited an 18-4 burst.

Lopez, who scored 10 points, had three key baskets and three assists in the stretch, and Bell and rookie Sasha Pavlovic added four points apiece. Utah's bench outscored Atlanta's 16-4 during the run and 36-11 overall.

The Jazz's defense was suffocating during that span, holding the Hawks without a basket for more than seven minutes and forcing two turnovers.

Bell credited Greg Ostertag, who collected six of his 11 rebounds in the final period, with setting the tone defensively.

"Greg came in and got us some big rebounds," Bell said. "Between that and the execution, I think that was the difference."

"Raja, Greg and Raul did a great job from the bench," said Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, who had 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks. "Sometimes the starters don't feel good. They just jumped in from the bench and gave us a lot of energy."

The Hawks scored five of the first six points of the fourth quarter to open their largest lead at 72-65 with 10:30 remaining on a monstrous dunk by rookie Boris Diaw. From there, they fell apart, making only two more baskets.

"Raja Bell stepped up and hit some big shots," Hawks point guard Jason Terry said. "But we couldn't make any shots. It seemed like we didn't have enough legs."

"We didn't execute down the stretch," said Hawks shooting guard Bob Sura, who had 19 points and seven assists. "We had a three-point lead going into the fourth, but they executed pretty well, and that was the difference."

Despite the win, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was unhappy with his team's play down the stretch.

"One time (in the fourth quarter), the ball was laying loose down there, we had three guys with a chance at it, and we ran away from it," Sloan said. "I don't understand that. You think you want to be a playoff team, and you let things like that happen to you."

The Jazz swept the season series from the Hawks for the first time since the 2000-01 season and completed a 3-2 road trip.

"There are no moral victories," Bell said. "We should have won four. But three out of five is not bad."