They finally finished a game, snapping a seven-game losing streak by beating San Antonio 94-84 to deny the Spurs their best 20-game start in franchise history.
The Hawks entered the game with the NBA's worst record while the defending champion Spurs have the most wins in the league.
But the Spurs said they were not surprised by the Hawks' strong game.
"Look at all their games," said Tim Duncan, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds. "They've been right in the cusp of winning a lot of games. They always play us well. They did when they came to San Antonio."
The Hawks led the Spurs by 13 points after one quarter on November 15 in San Antonio, but they faded late in a 103-79 loss during Atlanta's streak of nine successive losses to open the season. This time, the Hawks were stronger at the end, outscoring the Spurs 25-13 in the final period.
"We've had games early in the season when we were leading down the stretch," said Josh Childress, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. "This is a game we finished. We got the shots we wanted."
The Hawks (3-16) won for the first time since November 25. The Spurs saw their six-game winning streak end.
"It just happens," Spurs guard Tony Parker said. "It wasn't our offense. Our defense was bad. We scored. We just couldn't stop anybody."
The Spurs (16-4) were denied their first 17-3 start. They also were 16-4 after 20 games last season.
Atlanta players have heard increasing speculation about the future of second-year coach Mike Woodson.
"We've had a lot of adversity, a lot of stuff said about our team," Josh Smith said. "We've got to ignore that stuff. Coach is a great coach and we hate to see him go down that path. We're trying to play as hard as we can to prevent that from happening."
Woodson called the win unbelievable. "You play the best team in basketball like that, that says a lot for those guys," he said.
"I hope this is a learning lesson for our young guys ... Our defense was on the money. We moved the ball. We made shots when we had to make them. It was fun to watch."
"They just kept coming at us and we couldn't match their energy," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
"There were some poor performances on our end, but a lot of it had to do with the aggressiveness and energy they brought. It was a really good win for them."
