ATLANTA — Al Horford banged his dislocated finger and spent much of the game fiddling with it. Jeff Teague twisted his right ankle and hobbled to the locker room for a quick tape job.

By the end of the night, they both were feeling just fine.

Horford and Teague scored 20 points apiece, helping the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks hold off the Brooklyn Nets 107-97 on Wednesday night in an NBA playoff series that’s closer than anyone envisioned.

Down by 17 at the end of the first quarter, Brooklyn might have returned home with an improbable lead if not for Horford and Teague.

The eighth-seeded Nets have given the top-seeded Hawks all they can handle, but Brooklyn’s play down the stretch remains its biggest problem.

With two fingers on his shooting hand taped together, Horford flew around the court in the fourth quarter, crashing the boards, knocking down jumpers and exhorting his teammates to hold off the eighth-seeded Nets.

In the final minutes, Teague darted into the lane on his taped ankle for a pair of baskets that sealed another hard-fought victory. He let out a rare burst of emotion, screaming and waving his arms to pump up the home crowd, which included prospective new owner Antony Ressler and his wife, actress Jami Gertz.

“It’s the playoffs,” said DeMarre Carroll, who led the Hawks with 24 points but also had his right hand wrapped up after taking a hard fall. “You don’t have injuries in the playoffs.”

Atlanta leads 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, with Game 6 on Friday night in Brooklyn. If needed, Game 7 would be back at Philips Arena on Sunday.

“The playoffs are a new season,” said Horford, who dislocated his right pinkie in Game 1 but has played through the pain. “You never underestimate any team.”

Alan Anderson led the Nets with 23 points off the bench. Jarrett Jack added 18 as the Brooklyn backups totally dominated Atlanta’s reserves, forcing the Hawks to rely almost entirely on their starters. Carroll played more than 42 minutes. Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap also went more than 40 minutes.

“This was a game we really wanted to get,” said Korver, who made five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points.

Horford appeared to bang his finger in the first half, clearly causing him plenty of discomfort. He had it sprayed at one point and was constantly tinkering with the tape job. But he still managed to make 10 of 17 shots and grab 15 rebounds.

Teague, meanwhile, landed on Brook Lopez’s foot early in the third quarter and hobbled straight to the locker room. He was back in the game less than 3 minutes later.

The Nets have been competitive in all three games in Atlanta, losing by a combined 22 points. This was actually the first game in the series decided by a double-digit margin, and that was only because the Hawks hit four straight free throws in the final 30 seconds.

“They knocked us back in the beginning,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “But we fought back.”

Jack hit back-to-back 3-pointers and drove for a floater in the lane that closed the gap to 90-89. That was as close as Brooklyn got, although Joe Johnson hit two more 3s to pull the Nets to 97-95 — their last gasp, it turned out.

“We responded,” Jack said. “Maybe a little too late.”