Hawks Beat Wizards Again in OT

The Hawks and Washington Wizards have played each other three times this year, and the Hawks have won every game. This one was close though, as it was the second time the two teams have gone to overtime, with the Hawks barely winning 100-95.
The Wizards kept it close all game, and outscored the Hawks in the third and fourth quarters to force the game into overtime. Former Hawk Jordan Crawford had a terrific game and recorded a triple-double. He scored a game-high 27 points, pulled down eleven rebounds and dished out eleven assists. Earl Barron led the Wizards with fourteen rebounds. Nene scored eighteen points off the bench to help the cause, Bradley Beal added seventeen and Martell Webster had eleven. The Wizards have now lost four games in a row and their record fell to an NBA-worst 3-19.
The Hawks were coming off their worst loss of the season, a 115-93 drubbing by the Golden State Warriors, and were looking for a great game to bounce back. They might not consider this a great game, but they will be happy to leave the capital with a victory. One thing that could have prevented the game from going to overtime is free-throw shooting. As a team the Hawks missed eleven free throws, that obviously made a big difference in the score at the end of regulation.
Josh Smith had a double-double in the win, scoring seventeen points and leading the Hawks with thirteen rebounds. Lou Williams led the Hawks in scoring with 24 points, Kyle Korver had sixteen and Jeff Teague had thirteen. Al Horford also pulled down eleven rebounds. Ivan Johnson and Devin Harris both left the game in the second quarter. Johnson hurt his finger and had to get stitches, he did return after halftime. Harris hurt his ankle and he did not return to the game, his status is uncertain. Also, Atlanta was still without Anthony Morrow who has a sore back.
The Hawks are now 15-7 on the season. They will return home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. The Thunder are the NBA's hottest team having won eleven games in a row and are 20-4 overall this season. The Hawks beat them back on November 4th in Oklahoma, 104-95.

Lou Williams takes a shot over the Wizards' Emeka Okafor, Williams led the Hawks with 24 points in the overtime victory.
Photo Courtesy of images.yahoo.com