Hawks follow Celtics' win by dismissing Hornets

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The final score cast the matchup about right.

The process to get to the Hawks' 121-98 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night at Philips Arena didn't necessarily follow convention. However, it revealed a certain mettle within the Hawks, who lead the Southeast Division at 8-2, also tied for the best record in the NBA.

One night after an intense road win over the Boston Celtics, a trip that returned the team back to Atlanta around 2 a.m. Saturday, the Hawks did the necessary against New Orleans. They fended off an outmanned, but unyielding Hornets team.

"It's not going to be pretty, but as long as you leave with a win, that's all that matters," guard Jamal Crawford said.

The Hornets were without All-NBA guard Chris Paul after he sprained his ankle Friday night and were also bereft of 2007-08 coach of the year Byron Scott after his dismissal Thursday. Still, they made the Hawks labor for the win.

The Hornets never led after the third minute of the game and fell behind by 17 points in the third quarter, but closed to within six in the fourth quarter at 95-89 on a Peja Stojakovic 3-pointer with 8:47 to go, part of his 25-point barrage.

Said Woodson, whose pregame hope was for his team to put away the Hornets early, "They kept scrapping. We'd build a lead, they'd get back into the game."

A television timeout shortly after Stojakovic's three allowed the Hawks to regroup.

"They knew it was that time to buckle down," Woodson said. "You could hear guys saying, ‘Let's go,' and they went right out and did what they said they were [going to do]."

What followed was a four-minute spurt of basketball mastery. Hornets turnovers and missed shots turned into Hawks fastbreaks. With the starting five on the floor for most of the run, the Hawks scored 16 consecutive points. They pushed the pace, whipped the ball to one another for wide-open 3-pointers and demoralized the Hornets.

"I think that's when we're at our best, when we're running, when we're just freelancing and playing, but it all starts getting that stop on defense and getting the rebound," said forward Al Horford.

The Hawks were up 111-89 with just over four minutes remaining when the Hornets managed to score again, by which point Woodson had already started to send in the second team.

"We just came out of that timeout and we just never looked back," Woodson said. "That's what good teams do."

The win extended the Hawks' winning streak to four games and started a four-game home stand on the right note. The team's record at the 10-game mark is its best since the 1997-98 Hawks, who won their first 11 on their way to a 50-win season.

"We'll take it," said guard Joe Johnson, who gave the Hawks a game-high 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds. "But the work is not finished."