The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Denver Nuggets, 117-109, at StateFarm Arena on Friday.

The Hawks (13-10) moved two games over the .500 mark and secured a comfortable win over a Western Conference contender in the Nuggets (14-8), as the win moved Atlanta to an 8-4 record at home and the Nuggets fell to 8-6 on the road. Atlanta grabbed the lead early in the contest and outscored its rivals by a 28-25 score in the opening 12 minutes, but they looked even better in the second quarter as they bolstered their advantage to 14 points after a 32-21 score. The Nuggets showed signs of life in the third quarter and won that 12-minute period by a 35-30 score, and they also won the fourth period by a 28-27 score. Unfortunately for Denver, that was not enough to complete the comeback and the Hawks ended up winning the contest.

Dejounte Murray was key down the stretch for the Hawks and finished with a team-high 34 points and eight assists, while Clint Capela posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double. Jalen Johnson notched 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists, and Jarrett Culver also had 10 points. A.J. Griffin had another impressive performance and finished with 24 points, three rebounds and three steals. Aaron Holiday and Onyeka Okongwu both had 10 points off the bench.

Nikola Jokic was the best player for the Nuggets and finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Jalen Murray finished with 20 points and seven assists while also adding three boards. Aaron Gordon delivered 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Bones Hyland looked impressive off the bench and finished with 16 points.