Hawks derail Thunder roll
ATLANTA—THE short-handed Atlanta Hawks defeated Nba-leading Oklahoma City, 97-90, Saturday, snapping the Thunder’s seven-game winning streak.
Josh Smith scored 30 points with 12 rebounds for Atlanta, delivering the big game the Hawks needed as they coped with the absence of leading scorer Joe Johnson and reserve guard Willie Green.
“We were able to compete at a very high level against probably the best team in the league,” said Atlanta coach Larry Drew, whose team also lost Tracy Mcgrady to a knee injury in the first quarter.
“I thought our guys did a phenomenal job and just competing given what the situation was. I take my hat off to every guy in the locker room.”
Atlanta surrendered a double-digit lead late in the third quarter, but they opened the fourth with an 11-4 scoring run.
“We didn’t get rattled,” Smith said. “We tightened up the defense and we willed ourselves on the offensive end to make plays.”
With less than five minutes to play the Hawks led 87-79, but the Thunder—who came into the game with a league-leading 297 record—pulled within one before the Hawks turned them back.
Smith drained a three-pointer with 2:01 to play to make it 92-88. With a minute left, a Smith basket stretched Atlanta’s lead to 9590.
Kevin Durant, the NBA’S second-leading scorer, finished with a game-high 35 points for the Thunder and Russell Westbrook added 25.
“Nobody would have probably ever given us a chance to be able to win this game,” Smith said of a Hawks team that improved to 22-15. “We played well ... we just played together.”
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki exploded for 40 points as the Mavericks welcomed back Lamar Odom with a slide-stopping 102-96 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Odom, who has not seen action since Feb. 20 for personal reasons, finished with nine points and five rebounds for the Mavericks, who ended a four-game losing streak.
In Orlando, Dwight Howard scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Magic dumped the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-98.
In Memphis, Marc Gasol and OJ Mayo had 17 points each to lead seven Grizzlies in double figures in a 100-83 rout of the Detroit Pistons.
COMPLETE RESULTS: Atlanta 97, Oklahoma City 90; Orlando 114, Milwaukee 98; Washington 101, Cleveland 98; Memphis 100, Detroit 83; Indiana 102, New Orleans 84; Dallas 102, Utah 96; Minnesota 122, Portland 110