A recap of the Hawks’ 87-76 win over the Hornets Sunday:
Noteworthy
* The Hawks had five double-digit scorers in Kent Bazemore (14), Paul Millsap (13), Al Horford (13), Tim Hardaway Jr. (11) and Jeff Teague (10).
* Horford had a game-high 16 rebounds.
* Millsap had four steals.
* Hardaway was a plus-20.
* The Hawks outscored the Hornets 40-22 in points in the paint.
* The Hawks never trailed as the Hornets made just one of their first 19 shots.
* The Hornets had just two double-digit scorers with Marvin Williams (16) and Jeremy Lin (15). Each were a team-worst minus-10.
* The Hawks had one more 3-pointer (8) than the Hornets (7) on 15 less attempts.
* The Hawks went 10 players deep and each had at least two points, one assist and one rebound.
Key stat
23-5
The Hornets’ free-throw advantage. No Hawks starter went to the line.
Quote of the game
“I guess we have to give ourselves some credit as well. We ran around and contested a lot of shots. I thought defensively, our rotations were great. Guys were committed to what they had to do. Just like last game, we weren’t hesitating. We just ran at a guy.” – Kent Bazemore on holding Hornets to 1 of 19 shooting to start game
Report card
Offense: C
The Hawks’ offense was good enough to win with their stifling early defense. They scored 25 first-quarter points, the most of any period in the game. They committed 17 turnovers that led to 21 points. The Hornets, by contrast, had only seven turnovers. The offense sputtered at times allowing the Hornets to creep back in a game they dominated early.
Defense: A
The nine-point first quarter for the Hornets speaks volumes. The 32-point first half does as well. The Hawks allowed a season-low 76 points. The Hornets starters combined for 42 points as the Hawks held Kemba Walker to nine points, Nicolas Batum to two points and Al Jefferson (off the bench) to six points.
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