Josh Smith, Jeff Teague and Joe Johnson star as Atlanta Hawks rout Charlotte Bobcats: NBA Recap
On Wednesday night at the Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA, the Atlanta Hawks played hosts to the Charlotte Bobcats and coming into the game, losing three out of their last four games, they routed the Bobcats in front of their home crowd, 120-93.
Josh Smith had a game high, scoring 24 points. Jeff Teague and Willie Green had 17 apiece while Joe Johnson had 16 points on the night. For the Bobcats, Kemba Walker who came off the bench led with 21 points and 5 assists to his name, Gerald Henderson also contributed well with 15 points. Walker also had to play the entire second half as D.J. Augustin, left the game at the half with his right knee injured due to tendonitis.
The game only remained a contest till the first period. The first quarter went neck to neck from the get go with no team holding a noticeable advantage. Atlanta only led by 2 points at the end of the first period, 27-25. Jeff Teague was the stand out player for the Hawks with 10 points after the first twelve minutes.
From the start of second quarter, Hawks turned up their intensity on a major level as they shot the ball 73.7 percent of the times in the second quarter which helped them outscore the visitors by 34-19. This was Atlanta`s most productive second quarter in the entire season. Midway through it, the Hawks also went on a 20-10 run to close the half out 61-44.
Early in the quarter, there was no stopping Josh Smith, who was responsible for splitting the game open by scoring 7 consecutive points.
There was no coming back for the Bobcats who have been having a horrendous season. The smallest advantage Atlanta had in the game was 17, this lead got to as big as 32 points.
This masterful display of excellence was partly because the Hawks crushed the under sized Bobcats with their points in the paint 60-36. On a night of dominance, Atlanta also shared the ball pretty well by dishing out 32 assists. The other major factor in this win was Atlanta`s fast break points 36 as compared to Charlotte’s 14.
Atlanta had six players who scored at least 12 points at a combined shooting of 56.6% from the field to go along with 89.5% shooting from the free throw spot.
These two teams play each other again on Saturday night and that will be Bobcat`s 4th game in 5 nights.
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