Irving gets hot in fourth as Nets outscore Hawks 145-141

Hawks: Danilo Gallinari, who missed the last two games with a bruised left foot, came off the bench in this one but played only five minutes before leaving with a sprained right ankle. … Coach Lloyd Pierce wasn’t sure how the Hawks planned to spend New Year’s Eve in New York. “We’re definitely not going anywhere. But depending on what’s allowed, we’ll have a team dinner, maybe some champagne or something in the hotel, but it won’t be anything extensive,” he said. “We’re in New York, it’s a business trip, middle of a pandemic, I think we’ll be smart and do what we continually need to do.”

Nets: Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot started in place of the injured Spencer Dinwiddie and had three points. He made his first start Monday against Memphis and scored 21 points. … Coach Steve Nash said F/C Nicolas Claxton, sidelined by a right knee injury, is improving, but he thought still weeks away from being ready to return.

Nash hosted Pierce on his college visit to Santa Clara, where they played together for two years and become close friends. Pierce said some of their teammates had a group text going in advance of the game and noted the slim odds of two guys from a mid-major college coaching in the NBA against each other. Nash said he was proud of all Pierce’s accomplishments, praising his work on voting and civil rights initiatives in Georgia. “He’s inspired me and to get a chance to coach against him is really special,” Nash said.