Josh Smith piles on 28 points; Atlanta Hawks beat Sacramento Kings 106 – 99 – NBA Recap
The Atlanta Hawks secured an important road win at the Power Balance Pavilion on Sunday as they beat the Sacramento Kings 106 – 99. The Kings and Hawks were a perfect matchup in the first half but the Hawks pulled away in the second, eventually securing
the 106 – 99 win.
The Hawks had Josh Smith to thank for spurning them on to victory. The forward has been in sublime form this NBA season and he was at it again, scoring a joint game high 28 points, along with 6 rebounds as he led the team on offence.
The forward is arguably the most prized asset in Atlanta right now, and though his contract is winding down, he is still focused on the present.
"I'm here. I have one more year left on my deal and we have to see what happens. I just have to keep playing the way I'm capable of playing and keep doing what I'm doing and not worry about any outside distractions."
"Josh has really been Superman for us," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "He's been playing a lot of minutes and doing it at both ends of the floor. He's playing absolutely super."
Guard Joe Johnson played an important part as well, scoring 21 points and dishing out 6 assists. Point guard Jeff Teague had 16 points and 7 assists.
Sacramento Kings were spearheaded by firebrand centre DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins was a thorn in Atlanta’s flesh all night, ending with a mammoth double-double at 28 points and 12 rebounds. Only three other players made it into double digits for the Kings
however, which was a big reason for their demise.
Atlanta were off to the quicker start, going up 9 – 4 early on. Sacramento soon caught up with them though and it took a 6 – 0 burst for the visitors to go up 21 – 14. The Kings responded with a 7 – 0 burst of their own and drew level at 21 – 21. At the
end of the first period, the home side were up at 24 – 23.
There was not much to separate the two sides in the second period. Leads were built up and lost, but the margins were never too dramatic. After both sides scored 28 points in the segment; the first half ended 52 – 51 to Sacramento.
The game turned in the third frame. Both sides came out firing after the interval and shots were traded with a high frequency. A late 9 – 2 run from Atlanta however put them clear, up 80 – 72, and the Kings couldn’t recover in time.
Therefore, Sacramento had an uphill task in the final period, which was made even more difficult after the Hawks started with an 8 – 2 spurt, taking the score to 88 – 76. The double digit deficit proved too much for the Kings, who could only reduce it to
7 points at the end, bowing out 106 – 99.
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