ATLANTA, Nov. 10 (Ticker) -- Elton Brand gave the Los Angeles Clippers the lead. His teammates made sure they held onto it.

Brand scored 10 of his 23 points in the decisive third quarter, as the Clippers matched their best start in 20 years with a 102-95 victory over the winless Atlanta Hawks.

NBA TV highlights from Clippers-Hawks: Play

Sam Cassell had 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and Corey Maggette scored 17 points off the bench for the surprising Clippers, who are 5-1 for the first time since 1985. They have the best record in the Western Conference.

"Can you believe it? I can," Cassell said. "I've been saying it the whole year. . .(We're) 5-1 right now. The sky's the limit for us."

"Sam Cassell says we've got a special team," Brand said. "We're not even at our peak yet. We just got Corey back. Shaun Livingston hasn't played. I don't think we hit our potential yet."

Coming off a 31-point, 13-rebound performance in Wednesday's win at Washington, Brand scored 10 points in both the first and third quarters. He took advantage of the smaller Al Harrington, who was also battling an ankle injury.

"(Brand is) our horse," Cassell said. "You've got to ride your horse. That's what we did. The way he goes, we go."

"Elton's a big part of their team," Hawks swingman Josh Childress said. "We were unable to get him out of his rhythm. We should have tried to get him out of his rhythm and make him take bad shots."

Brand helped the Clippers take a 75-69 lead into the final period, where Cassell, Maggette and company took over. Maggette's three-point play pushed the lead to 81-69 with 10:53 to go.

The Hawks fought back within 85-79 with 8:28 left on a three-point play by rookie Marvin Williams, who scored 12 points. Maggette and Cassell drilled jumpers and Chris Kaman sank two foul shots to rebuild the lead to a dozen points.

"They made the plays they needed to make to get the win," Hawks forward Josh Smith said. "Cassell was tough down the stretch; he hit some big shots for them."

Two free throws and a layup by Harrington made it 93-86 before Maggette took a handoff from Kaman and drove for a baseline dunk with 2:16 remaining.

Cuttino Mobley scored 12 points for the Clippers, who shot 48 percent (36-of-75) from the field as they improved to 2-1 on their four-game road trip. Los Angeles has swept the last three season series from Atlanta.

"It's good to get a win on the road, but we didn't play well," said Mobley, who took stitches for a cut over his right eye suffered during a fall in the fourth quarter. "They had a couple of easy buckets in the first half and you can't do that to teams because they get their confidence back and that's how you get beat on the road. Mentally, we have to be ready, (but) it's always a good sign when you still find a way to win."

Joe Johnson had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Zaza Pachulia added 16 and 13 for the hapless Hawks (0-5), who have lost 37 of their last 40 games dating to last season.

"I thought we were on the verge of (our first win), but a loss is a loss," Johnson said. "It's tough right now. We're in a nasty funk. Somehow, someway, we have to find a way to get a victory."