> OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: A last-minute lineup scratch was the all the opening Hawks rookie Mario West needed. Inserted into the starting lineup for Marvin Williams on Wednesday night against Sacramento, West helped propel the Hawks to their best scoring quarter of the season. The Hawks led 40-28 after the first 12 minutes, and West, the energetic former Georgia Tech star, had seven points and three rebounds in the first, frenetic eight minutes of the game. Williams left the arena before tipoff with stomach pains and a severe headache. He was feeling the same before Monday's game in San Antonio but played through the discomfort. But after struggling through shootaround practice Wednesday morning, he didn't feel any better by the afternoon and was sent home after seeing a team doctor.

> MORE TESTS FOR LAW: Hawks rookie point guard Acie Law IV missed his third straight game with a sprained right wrist and might miss more, depending on the results of a MRI exam he's scheduled to have today. "If and when he's ready to go medically, he's going to be back out there," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "Our numbers are down right now, so we could obviously use every guy we can. But we're not going to rush him or anyone else back from an injury. We'll deal with what we've got and go form there."

> BEST AND WORST: The Hawks followed their best quarter of the season with one of their worst on offense and defense. Their 40-28 lead after the first quarter was 59-58 at halftime. After trailing by 14 late in the first, the Kings went on a 30-14 run to take the lead on a Francisco Garcia 3-pointer with 33.7 seconds to play before halftime. The Hawks scored five points before halftime, including a Joe Johnson 3-pointer with two-tenths of second to play, to take back the lead.