Smith Leads Hawks Over Bobcats

Josh Smith led a very depleted Atlanta Hawks team to a 104-92 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. With the win, the Hawks won all four of their games against the Bobcats this season.
The Bobcats didn't have any answers for the Hawks tonight, as they trailed from start to finish. After being a competitive team at the beginning of the season, the Bobcats have weakened over the last two months. Ramon Sessions led the Bobcats with 27 points off the bench. Ben Gordon added fifteen off the bench while Kemba Walker, who scored 35 in the Bobcats last game, only scored eleven tonight. Bismack Biyombo pulled down ten rebounds to lead the team. Charlotte, who has lost eight of their last nine games, is now 10-32 on the year.
The big story for the Hawks tonight was the amount of men they were missing. Not only is Lou Williams out for the season, they also played with Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia, Devin Harris and Anthony Morrow. That means everyone else had to come up and play some big minutes. It also meant Smith needed to be the team leader he is expected to be and he stepped up to the challenge. Smith led the Hawks with 30 points, pulled down thirteen rebounds, dished out eight assists and blocked three shots. An all-star performance from a man who hopes to be an all-star for the first time this season.
Kyle Korver also had a big night scoring 21 points and he hit five of his six 3-point shots. Jeff Teague also added ten points. Ivan Johnson, who got the start with Horford and Pachulia out, led the Hawks with fifteen rebounds and also scored twelve points. DeShawn Stevenson returned from his injury and played 20 minutes but hit only one of his eight shots for three points. Every player that played for the Hawks tonight scored.
The Hawks have now won their last two games and sit at 24-18 on the year. They will return home to face the Boston Celtics on Friday at 7:30 p.m. As of tonight, the Celtics have lost their last four games and have a record of 20-21. They play against the New York Knicks on Thursday before traveling to Atlanta.

Josh Smith performed like an all-star on Wednesday night, leading the depleted Hawks with 30 points in their 104-92 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
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