Smith and Horford Sparkle as Hawks Win at Home to the Golden State Warriors
Josh Smith and Al Horford combined brilliantly to score 43 points and 25 rebounds, as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Golden State Warriors 103-93 at the Philips Arena.
Prominent Players
The Hawks were led by a balanced attack, as five players scored in double-figures. Josh Smith continued to play like a Most Valuable Player (MVP) finishing with 22 points,
10 rebounds, five assists and eight blocks. Al Horford provided a spark off the bench by chipping in with 21 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, and 10 blocks. Mike Bibby had a simple but effective game with 15 points in Atlanta’s ninth straight home victory.
Dorell Wright came off the bench to score a career-high 32 points and added 11 rebounds for the Warriors, in their 19th defeat of the season. David Lee added 14 points
and Monta Ellis scored 12. While Lou Amundson fetched 10 for Golden State, who were trying to extent their three game winning-streak to four for the first time since February-March 2008.
Game Story
The Hawks entered the game with a decent 20-13 record for the season, and even though they were playing back-to-back games, there was no question that they would provide
the Warriors with a difficult test. Needless to say that with their overall team support, Atlanta passed with flying colors wand were able to beat one of the NBA's top sides. The Hawks did not just win; they ran the Warriors into the ground and left no doubt
on the scoreboard.
Josh Smith said after the game, "We had to do it against a team like this. They had a couple bigs out and our main focus from the get-go was to try and get the ball to
me and Al and be able to create for others. I think we got away from it a little bit, but we went back to it later on."
Victory with 10-point margin - That is the number that really tells the story.
Both teams started the game sluggishly, but a three-pointer by Jamal Crawford in the last second of the opening quarter gave the Hawks a 29-27 advantage. The
Hawks started the second quarter full of energy and scored ten points in a row. Wright tried hard to make the score a respectable one, hammering 12 points in the second quarter, including a three-pointer in the closing minute to cut the Warriors deficit to
52-47 at half time.
In the third quarter, the Hawks continued to shoot effectively from long distance, capped by two three-pointers from Bibby for a 78-69 cushion moving to the final stanza. Horford’s
Alley-oop jam extended the Hawks lead to 89-79 with six minutes remaining. Stephen Curry of Golden State had a jumper to cut the lead to nine with over two minutes to go until the final buzzer, but Horford answered with a put back to make it 99-88. The Warriors
did not get closer than six points the rest of the way, and the Hawks stayed in defensive mode down the stretch to seal the victory.
Warriors coach Keith Smart said, "You know how the travel can get you sometimes. We didn't have the necessary energy that was going to be needed and everyone had to be
playing a very high level to complete this game. We didn't have that."
Tags: