Josh Smith and Al Horford at the double as Atlanta Hawks drop Charlotte Bobcats 94-91: NBA Recap
Josh Smith dropped 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lift Atlanta Hawks to a 94-91 win over the Charlotte Bobcats here at Philips Arena Wednesday night. Al Horford also had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Jeff Teague added 11 points for the home side.
Ben Gordon has monstrous game. He gathered 21 out of his 26 points from behind the arc, going 7 out of 10 from the three point range and was well supported by Ramon Sessions who came off the bench to score 18 points and dish out 8 assists while Kemba Walker chipped in with 15 points for Bobcats, who went 7-7 after the loss. Charlotte committed 16 turnovers compared to 9 by the Hawks, but nearly made it by pulling off a brilliant late run.
Atlanta opened the proceedings in style with two back to back three pointers and a Horford jumper extended their lead to 11-2. Bobcats took some time to get going and were trailing 11-15 at one stage before tied the score on 18 all. Anthony Morrow made a jump shot in the closing moments of the period to give Hawks a two point lead.
Hawks made two shots from downtown in the early going of the second period that put them up 33-24. But the Bobcats were not in a mood to give an easy passage to the Hawks as they went for an 8-0 run to make it a one point game on 32-33. A Byron Mullens dunk shot put Charlotte up by 1 and minutes later, they were up 45-38, before the Hawks closed the first half strongly to reduce the deficit down to 43-45.
The Hawks took the lead right at the start of the third period after a three pointer by Jeff Teague but could only hold it for mere 24 seconds before Bobcats snatched it right back. Charlotte were up 51-49 when the Hawks went for a quick 8-0 run that put them ahead on 57-51. Atlanta began to pull away and a Devin Harris free throw had them leading by 62-56 later in the period. They pushed their advantage to 71-65 by the end of third quarter.
Bobcats gave Hawks a run for their money in the final period but Atlanta managed to survive the onslaught by Ben Gordon from the three point land. He made a three pointer right at the start of the period to make his intentions clear to the Hawks. It was still going all smooth for the Hawks early in the period and they were up 81-70 after a Horford dunk, before Gordon sank two deep thee pointers to make it 76-81. From there started a Bobcats run that put them on 91-92 when Gordon made another triple with 29.1 seconds left on the regulation. But the Bobcats failed to score again and a desperation attempt gave away two free throws which Horford converted successfully into points to make it 94-91.
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