With an 82-73 victory, the 14th-seeded Atlanta Hawks became the second squad Thursday to knock off a previously unbeaten team in the championship bracket of the Samsung NBA Summer League 2015.
Atlanta (3-2) staked itself to an early 5-0 lead behind a 3-point play by Lamar Patterson and a jumper by Mike Muscala. From there, the Hawks never trailed against the No. 3 Denver Nuggets (3-1) at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center.
The Hawks pushed their lead to seven on three occasions in the opening quarter only to see the Nuggets chip away and cut the deficit to only one score with 24 seconds left on the clock.
Denver pulled within one twice more in the second and drew even at 32-all with 55 seconds remaining in the first half. Unfortunately, a 3-pointer by Terran Petteway and a jumper by Patterson extended the Hawks' advantage to five points at intermission.
Atlanta's lead ballooned to double digits for the majority of the third quarter, but dipped back to only three points twice midway in the fourth.
With the two separated by only one possession at 71-68, the Hawks reeled off a 9-0 run over a span of 3:31 to put 12 points between themselves and the Nuggets. Brandon Ashley, who played at Arizona from 2012-15, was the primary catalyst for the scoring outburst with seven of his game-high 18 points during this stretch.
Patterson and Stephen Holt contributed 17 apiece in the win, while Petteway and Muscala added 14 and 10, respectively.
Denver's Joffrey Lauvergne had the games only double-double behind a combination of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Gilvydas Biruta led the team in scoring with 17 points. Ian Clark chipped in 13, while Roscoe Smith had 10 more.
The Nuggets will return to action Friday in the consolation bracket, while the Hawks advance to Saturday's quarterfinals.