The Atlanta Hawks fell to the Charlotte Hornets at home on Thursday night by a final margin of 129 to 117. Very little defensive effort was put forth in this tilt, as both teams were looking to put up big numbers on the more glamorous end.
This was almost a wire-to-wire victory for the Hornets, but the Hawks spoiled the domination by tying the game late in the 2nd quarter. With this win, Charlotte sweeps the season series 4-0.
Both teams were hot from the field and from downtown, though the Hornets bested the Hawks in both categories – shooting 46 of 87 from the field (52.9%) and 17 of 33 from deep (a scorching 51.5%). Atlanta shot the ball efficiently as well (42 of 90/46.7% from the field, 16 of 36/44.4% from deep) but could not match the insane numbers from Charlotte.
Despite this being a massive blowout in favor of the Hornets, both teams had a sky-high seven players score in double digits and they ended up knotting the assist total at 30 apiece.
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The major difference between the two teams was the play of former Hawk Dwight Howard, noted Hawk-killer Kemba Walker and rangy wing Nicolas Batum.
Howard finally got his signature revenge game against Atlanta, as he was completely unstoppable versus the Hawks on this night. Dwight exploded for 33 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 32 minutes and forced the Hawks into what seemed like a million fouls.
It must be noted that Dwight was just generally hot from the floor – he only missed one free throw (7 of 8), and he was throwing up some ridiculous shots including a long, long two-point jump shot, a banked-in jump shot, some wild, flailing and-1s as well as some vicious throwdowns.
Kemba had a quiet 24 points on 6 of 14 shooting, gently swishing 6 of 10 shots from deep as he helped to put the Hawks to bed in this game late. Batum was the true catalyst for Charlotte, as he once again notched a triple-double vs. Atlanta. This time, it was a 10-point, 10-rebound, 16-assist stat line accomplished in 40 minutes of play.
Batum was everywhere, and those 16 assists were a career-high for the Frenchman.
There were also numerous individual accolades to dole out for the Hawks too.