Bell scores 24, Bobcats beat tired Hawks 103-83

By MIKE CRANSTON

The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Raja Bell scored 24 points and the Charlotte Bobcats looked nothing like the NBA's lowest scoring team in beating the road-weary Atlanta Hawks 103-83 on Friday night.

Bell hit 9 of 12 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, Ronald "Flip" Murray added 15 points in his Charlotte debut, and Gerald Wallace offset a poor shooting night with 18 rebounds in the Bobcats' second straight win.

The Hawks struggled defensively and saw their two-game winning streak snapped at the end of a difficult trip that also took them to Los Angeles, Portland and Sacramento. Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford each scored 13 points, but combined toshoot 10 of 27 from the field.

The Hawks fell behind by 21 in the third quarter and scored only 14 points in the fourth.

The Bobcats, who came in averaging an NBA-low 79.8 points, had reached 80 only once in their first four games — a double-overtime contest. But three days of practice following Monday's 79-68 win over New Jersey and Murray's return from a shin injury resulted in an efficient performance.

Crisp ball movement, heady passing and strong drives to the hoop helped Charlotte build a 77-56 lead on Bell's 3-pointer midway through the third quarter.

Bell, in his second game back after deciding to put off surgery for a partially torn ligament in his left wrist, hit his first five shots, including two 3-pointers. He stayed hot in the second quarter, hitting a 3 to put Charlotte ahead 59-44.

Murray scored seven points in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter against the team he played for last season, giving Charlotte an outside scoring threat it was desperately missing.

Tyson Chandler, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds in his best game since his offseason trade from New Orleans, had a thunderous alley-oop dunk on a feed from D.J. Augustin to open the fourth quarter and the Hawks never recovered.

Wallace had 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting, but had another big game on the glass four nights after grabbing a career-high 20 rebounds. Charlotte held a 55-35 rebounding edge.

Bobcats coach Larry Brown called the Hawks "probably the most athletic team in the league" before the game, but fatigue seemed to set in. They were slow chasing the ball and Charlotte hit 11 of 18 3-pointers.

Atlanta came in averaging 108 points and Crawford had scored 26 and 27 off the bench the last two games, but the Hawks shot 40 percent, including 2 of 16 from 3-point range.

NOTES: Hawks coach Mike Woodson said he would have liked to re-sign Murray even after trading for Crawford. "I just think that the money that we would probably have offered him would have been less money than he really deserved," Woodson said. ... Hawks trainer Wally Blase, who tracks fouls, alertly hustled to the scoring table in the second quarter when they incorrectly had four fouls on the Bobcats, not five. It put Josh Smith to the line. ... Brown praised Woodson's job in turning around a team that won 13 games his first season. "They gave their coach a chance to grow with those kids," Brown said.

___

November 06, 2009 09:41 PM EST

Copyright 2009, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.