The Trail Blazers have lost their last four games and fall to 2-5 on the year. At halftime they were down by nine points, but slowly came back and even took the lead in the fourth quarter. The Hawks called a timeout and that helped rejuvenate them and helped them to fight off the Blazers' late run. Nicolas Batum and J.J. Hickson led the way for the Blazers with nineteen points. Hickson also had eighteen rebounds. Wesley Matthews added seventeen points, LaMarcus Aldridge had fourteen and rookie Damian Lillard had twelve. Portland's bench was of no help as five players combined to score six points.
The Hawks snapped a two game losing streak in the win. They didn't get through this game though without a few casualties. Devin Harris hurt his hamstring in the first half and he never returned, only playing eight minutes tonight. Also, Josh Smith played most of the game under the weather and it was obvious at times during the game as he looked very ill. He still led the Hawks in scoring and rebounding though, with nineteen points and eleven rebounds. It will be known later if Harris and Smith will be ready for the Hawks' next game.
The Hawks ended up having five players in double figures tonight. After Smith's nineteen, Kyle Korver had sixteen, Al Horford had fifteen to go with ten rebounds, Jeff Teague had thirteen and Lou Williams added eleven. A day after making their debuts, rookies John Jenkins and Mike Scott were the only two active players that coach Larry Drew didn't play in the game.
With the win, the Hawks are now 3-3 on the year. Their next game will be against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. The Warriors are currently 3-4 on the year and have lost their past two games.
The Hawks' Josh Smith shoots over the Trail Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge. Even though he felt ill, Smith still led the Hawks with nineteen points.
Photo Courtesy of images.yahoo.com
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