Riding a four-game winning streak entering today’s action, many Brooklyn Nets fans were unsure how the team would perform with one their longest winning streaks in the last four years.

Judging by today’s final score, it’s safe to say the team played pretty well. Despite Atlanta’s record and position in the Eastern Conference standings, who could have believed the team would deliver this dominant of a performance? However, the game was a lot closer than the final score may indicate — in almost classic Nets fashion.

From the opening tip to the end of the first quarter, it was all Nets — a welcomed result for once. Brooklyn was hitting on all cylinders, connecting on seven of their 14 three-pointers and even knocking down 16 of their 26 total field goal attempts.

Not only was the Nets’ first quarter shooting and dominance impressive, it was also historic. The team’s opening 42-point outburst was the largest first frame score since the franchise’s move to Brooklyn in 2012. Everything was clicking for the Nets in the first but, naturally, the team began to play a bit sluggish in the early stages of the second quarter. This sluggish start to the second period saw the Nets’ once-21 point lead cut down to just ten. Gulp — here we go again, right?

The Nets fought back every time the Hawks went on a run and maintained a lead for the rest of the first quarter, even after they let Atlanta cut the lead down to as low as two and were outscored by 13 points in the second quarter.

This was also the story for most of the second half. Atlanta would continue to fight back and kept trying to make it a close game down the stretch, but the struggling Hawks side would never cut it down to less than six points after halftime. After every big-time run from the Nets, Atlanta would keep admirably battling back — but it wasn’t until the final three minutes of the third quarter in which the Nets finally blew the doors off.

The Nets may have held on for a 17 point lead to end the game but only outscored the Hawks by two points in the final quarter of play.

Either way, now is it not the time to harp on the few negatives! After showing their muscle in the third quarter, the team never looked back and have now won five straight games. Even against the Hawks during a Sunday matinee, that’s worth celebrating indeed.