Jeff Teague's impressive 24 leads Atlanta Hawks over New Orleans Hornets 94-72 - NBA Recap
At New Orleans Arena, Atlanta Hawks decimated the New Orleans Hornets 94-72. Atlanta had two straight victories under their belt coming into the game and courtesy some brilliant play from Jeff Teague, they made it three in a row. The Hornets ordeal, on the other hand continued as they lost the 16th of their last 18 games.
Jeff Teague hogged the limelight in the game. The guard, who is still recovering from a sore ankle, scored a career high 24 points to lead his side to an emphatic victory.
Reflecting on his stupendous performance, Teague said after the game;
"I didn't really feel too much pain when I got out there, I might feel a little bit tomorrow or something, but we just played as a team. We were moving the ball well; guys were getting open shots and just knocking them down."
Willie Green and Marvin Williams added 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Hawks thus sealing the fate of Hornets.
The Hawks were on the offensive early on and kept up the momentum to end the first quarter with a promising lead of 27-11. The Hornets shooting rate was low as they managed to shot 5 of 19 in the first quarter.
The scenario didn’t change too much in the second quarter with Hawks stretching the lead to 46-35 on a Joe Johnson’s floating jump shot.
Their troubles continued after the break, with the Hornets making just 5 of 20 in the third period. As a result, by the end of 3rd quarter, the Hawks had a significant lead of 76-52.
The Hawks kept on scoring and Hornets seemed to have no answer to that. The disdained crowd witnessed the ignominious end of the 4th quarter as Hawks stood tall with a final score of 94-72.
Jarrett Jack and Greivis Vasquez scored 10 points each for Hornets, but their efforts were not enough to make any difference. The overarching lead could never be compensated by the Hornets.
The Hawks shot 43.9 percent (36 of 82) and scored 12 of 23 on 3-pointers, while Teague had a 100% hitting rate, he scored all 4 he attempted shots from downtown. Atlanta also out-rebounded New Orleans 42-36.
Hornets, after winning against Orlando Magic, were hoping to put up a decent fight and but will be very disappointed tonight with both the result and their effort.
Hornets forward Jason Smith, who scored only 4 points in sheer disparity said that,
"Frustrating. Embarrassing. It's not what the fans deserve. It's not what the coaches deserve we came out sluggish. We didn't play hard. We didn't play defence."
New Orleans have to make some serious strategies regarding their upcoming matches, with experienced player as Chris Kaman on the move; they have to induce better options.
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