Hornets hold Hawks to 59 points

Sometimes, a team is at its worst and puts up a really awful performance. And then you can be even more terrible and play like the Atlanta Hawks yesterday.

The AP reports:

Hornets hold Hawks to 59 points

Josh Smith slumped in front of his locker, trying to figure out how a team that played so hard in an overtime win at Miami could return home and get blown out by 41 points.

That’s just what happened Friday night. Coming off a victory over LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the mighty Heat, the Hawks were held to the lowest-scoring game in Atlanta history by Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets, who took control late in the first half and cruised to a 100-59 rout…

The Hawks have never had an offensive performance like this, at least since moving to Atlanta in 1968. Previously, their lowest-scoring game was a 73-63 loss to Cleveland in 1996.

Only Jordan Crawford’s 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining kept Hawks from their worst offensive effort ever—a 57-point game in 1955 when the team was in St. Louis…

Paul scored 16 points and dished out eight assists in leading the Hornets to their seventh straight win against a team that shot 29 percent…

David West and Marco Belinelli both scored 15 points and Emeka Okafor pulled down 12 rebounds. The Hornets dominated on the boards, 55-32.

Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 14 points, and Smith was the only player in double figures with 13. Johnson was 4 of 12 for nine points, less than half his 19.6 average.

Both the Hawks and Hornets are currently the 5th seed in their respective conferences.

Author: Inside Hoops

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