The AP reports: The Orlando Magic won their 11th straight home game and put on their most devastating offensive show of the season in routing the Atlanta Hawks 121-87 on Friday night… Orlando scored a season-high 41 points in the first quarter, then tied its season highs for points in a half (71) and game. The Magic also tied a season high with 16 3-pointers. Turkoglu hit all five of his attempts from long range and reserve J.J. Redick was 4-of-5 from behind the arc while scoring a season-high 15 points. Dwight Howard had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson added 14 points and nine assists… The Hawks starters, by contrast, were only 15-of-48 from the field and only Joe Johnson reached double figures with 11. Acie Law scored 16 and fellow reserve Solomon Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta.
Category: Atlanta Hawks Blog
Atlanta Hawks blog
Orlando builds big lead, holds on to beat Hawks 106-102
The AP reports: Putting on a show for the home folks, Dwight Howard had 23 points and 19 rebounds as Orlando preserved a 106-102 victory Wednesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Southeast Division. Orlando nearly squandered a 21-point advantage, catching a huge break when Mike Bibby missed a breakaway layup that should have made it a two-point game with just under 1 1/2 minutes remaining… Josh Smith led Atlanta with 21 points, but he missed all four of his free-throw attempts—the worst culprit in a 14-of-25 performance at the line that came back to haunt the Hawks at the end… Mike Bibby scored 17 points but was only 6-of-17 from the field. Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ leading scorer, was just 5-of-17 for 13 points—matching his second-lowest output of the season.
Bibby hits winner as Hawks beat Rockets 103-100
The AP reports: Mike Bibby made a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining, and Josh Smith scored a season-high 29 points in the Hawks’ 103-100 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. Joe Johnson had a season-high 14 assists, the last when he drove from the perimeter and into the left side of the lane before passing to Bibby for the winner… Flip Murray finished with 17 points for Atlanta, which snapped a three-game losing streak to Houston. The Hawks won their sixth straight at home, improving to 15-2 this season at Philips Arena. Overall, Atlanta has won six of seven… Reserve Carl Landry scored 18 points, and Yao Ming had 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead Houston, which has dropped two straight and five of seven. Aaron Brooks missed a 3 from the left corner at the buzzer that would’ve forced overtime. Von Wafer had 17 points for Houston, and Brent Barry added 16.
Joe Johnson leads streaking Hawks past Pacers
The AP reports: Joe Johnson’s stellar play is putting him in high company. The Atlanta guard scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, including the final five of the game, and the streaking Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 110-104 on Tuesday night… Josh Smith finished with 24 points, Mike Bibby scored 15 and Al Horford added 12 points and 14 rebounds for Atlanta. Danny Granger had 25 points, Jack 22 and Jeff Foster finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers, losers of four straight. Indiana has dropped eight home games this season by eight points or less.
Johnson’s 25 points lift Hawks past Denver, 109-91
The AP reports: Joe Johnson scored 25 points and the Hawks beat the Denver Nuggets 109-91 on Monday night to close out the homestand with a long-awaited milestone. The Hawks (20-10) reached 20 wins before New Year’s Day for the first time since the 1987-88 season, when second-year center Al Horford was 1… The Hawks, bolstered by their strong start, are shooting for their first 50-win season since 1997-98… The Hawks made 12 of 23 3-point attempts, including 5-of-6 by Mike Bibby, who had 20 points and nine assists… Carmelo Anthony, who scored 32 points in the Nuggets’ 117-110 victory at the New York Knicks on Sunday, had only half that total with 16 points on 4-for-17 shooting from the field.
Dec 27: Hawks 129, Bulls 117
The AP reports: After holding 14 of their last 15 opponents under 100 points, the Atlanta Hawks expected a low-scoring game against Chicago. When that plan failed, the Hawks seemed to enjoy a rare opportunity to change their style. Joe Johnson scored a season-high 41 points, Josh Smith also set a season high with 24, and the Hawks withstood Ben Gordon’s 3-point barrage to beat the Bulls 129-117 on Saturday night. The Bulls lost despite shooting 54.4 percent from the field and matching their scoring high for the season only one night after a 90-77 loss at Miami… Ben Gordon scored 33 points and was 6-of-8 behind the arc to pass Scottie Pippen and become the Bulls’ career leader in 3-pointers. Rookie Derrick Rose added a career-high 27 points.
Dec 23: Hawks 99, Thunder 88
The AP reports: If only Joe Johnson had hit a few more jump shots. Maybe a higher percentage from the field would’ve left him satisfied after his second career triple-double. Johnson had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his first triple-double in nearly three full seasons, and Marvin Williams scored 21 points in the Atlanta Hawks’ 99-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night… Kevin Durant scored 28 points for the Thunder, who have lost 10 of 11. Oklahoma City fell to 1-13 on the road and 3-26 overall despite a combined 26 rebounds by Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox… Jeff Green tied a career high with 14 rebounds and finished with 18 points. Wilcox, in 24 minutes, had 19 points and a season-high 12 boards.
Dec 21: Hawks 85, Pistons 78
The AP reports: Mike Bibby wasn’t with the Hawks for any of those past losses to the Pistons, and the new point guard in the Atlanta lineup made an obvious difference, scoring a season-high 27 points in an 85-78 win against Detroit on Sunday… Bibby made 10 of 13 shots from the field, including each of his six 3-point shots… Joe Johnson had 19 points and seven assists. Al Horford added 11 points and 11 rebounds and Josh Smith also had 11 points for Atlanta… Rodney Stuckey and Wallace each had 20 points for Detroit. Richard Hamilton had 16 points for Detroit before he was ejected with 1:14 remaining and Atlanta leading 83-76.
Dec 19: Hawks 115, Warriors 99
The AP reports: Expectations are changing for the Atlanta Hawks, who won a game by 16 points and then said it wasn’t good enough. Flip Murray scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hawks beat the Golden State Warriors 115-99 on Friday night. The Warriors fell to 3-13 on the road with their fifth straight loss overall, but they held slim leads at halftime and after three quarters. The Hawks finally pulled away with a 13-2 run early in the fourth quarter… Marvin Williams led Atlanta with 22 points… Missing injured top scorers Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson, the Warriors were led by Marco Belinelli’s career-high 27 points. Brandan Wright added a career-high 19 points but Jamal Crawford scored only six points on 3-for-15 shooting from the field.
Dec 17: Celtics 88, Hawks 85
The AP reports: The Boston Celtics looked to Kevin Garnett in the fourth quarter. Garnett scored 10 of his 18 points in the final quarter, and Atlanta’s Joe Johnson missed a late free throw that would have tied it, helping the Celtics beat the Hawks 88-85 on Wednesday night for their 16th straight victory. After Johnson missed the second of two free throws with 2.7 seconds, Ray Allen made a pair of free throws with 0.7 seconds left for the defending NBA champion Celtics, who have a franchise-best 24-2 record. It was only the second loss in 10 home games for the Hawks… Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 20 points, 10 in the final period. He was 7-of-7 from the line before the miss. Marvin Williams added 16 points, and Josh Smith and Mike Bibby had 14 each for the Hawks.