DENVER--Recognizing that the speedy Nuggets were capable of following the blueprint to beat the Hawks, coach Larry Drew told his team to take good shots and control the pace.
The Hawks did that for most of the first half. Then they started jacking up long jump shots and the Nuggets were off and running to a 100-90 victory on Monday night.
"The things we were concerned about coming into this game they completely took advantage of it," Drew said. "You have got to give [the Nuggets] credit. Obviously it's tough to play here. They want to get you up and down and if you fall prey into that and start shooting jump shots and quick-shooting you can find yourself behind."
Atlanta finished 3-4 on its season-long road trip. The Hawks will get one day of rest before playing their third game game in four nights on Wednesday vs. Chicago.
Atlanta led by as many as nine points in the second quarter but Denver cut the deficit to 47-46 at halftime. The Hawks never really did slow down after halftime, engaging the Nuggets in the kind of free-wheeling game that suits them.
Atlanta usually can play that style, too, but was shorthanded due to injuries to Josh Smith (knee) and Kirk Hinrich (calf). The Hawks also had played at Portland the previous night.
The Hawks kept it close behind Joe Johnson's 15 points in the second half. Atlanta trailed 89-85 with 4:34 to play but didn't score a field goal over the next three minutes as Denver pulled away.
Johnson's 22 points led five Hawks in double figures scoring but Atlanta couldn't overcome its 22-4 deficit in fast break points. Guard Raymond Felton (19 points, seven assists) led Denver's attack.
The Hawks finished the trip with two players on the injured list. Hinrich (calf) didn't play and then Smith sat out the second half because of a knee injury.
Smith said he suffered a sprained right medial collateral ligament when J.R. Smith landed on his knee. Josh Smith said he's likely to get an MRI when after the team returns to Atlanta.
It's the same knee Smith banged earlier in the season.
"For the past two games it was feeling like I was getting back to 100 percent and then this happens," he said. "It's kind of frustrating but I can't control injuries."
Josh Smith returned to the game in the second quarter but remained in the locker room when the team came out for the second half.
"It was real stiff," he said. "I couldn't move the way I wanted to on it."
The Hawks will need him for a tough slate of games at Philips Arena, where they've lost two games in a row to drop to 17-9 there. Atlanta plays host to Chicago, Oklahoma City, New York, and the Lakers over the next eight days.
Atlanta is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two games behind Orlando and six behind Chicago.
"We are still in a position where we can control our own destiny," Drew said. "We have a boatload of games at home and if we have to go home and handle our business. How we've approached our home games in the past has got to be totally different now.
"We are into March and we've got some really good teams coming in there but if we play they way we are capable of playing we should be OK."
