Atlanta 117, Charlotte 109 | Nov. 14, 2007 | Philips Arena

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• The Hawks rode the strength of a 37-point opening quarter to victory Wednesday en route to a 117-109 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, snapping a two-game losing streak.
• Atlanta moves their season record to 3-4, dropping their division rival Bobcats to 4-4.
• Joe Johnson scored a season-best 34 points and added 10 assists in 44 minutes.
• With season high in assists (29), field goal shooting (60 percent), and points, the Hawks led from start to finish in this one.
• Atlanta crushed Charlotte in the paint, scoring 62 points and holding the B-cats to 44.
• Scoring 41 as a team off the bench, Josh Childress led the reserves with 23. Al Horford had his first double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
• Marvin Williams finished with 19, while Josh Smith had 15 before suffering a left quad injury.
• He and Acie Law, who went down minutes later with a sprained left ankle, are both day-to-day.
• Friday, the Hawks entertain Seattle at Philips Arena at 7:30 (790 AM, FSN).

Photo Of The Night

Marvin Williams leaps for two of his 19 points

What You Really Need To Know
The Hawks are tough to beat when they are sharing the ball and playing at a fast pace. In the team's most complete offensive performance of the season, Atlanta scored a season-high 117 points and never trailed as they beat the pesky Bobcats. Joe Johnson led the way with 34, but Marvin and the two Joshes each dominated at stretches to keep the Charlotte defense guessing.


Fantasy MVP: Joe Johnson
Joe tossed in 34 (24 in the first half) for a season-high, and added 10 assists and 5 rebounds to go with it. All in all the best game of the season for the Hawks All-Star.


Momentum Changer
The Hawks were lights out shooting the ball in the first quarter, making 14-20 shots (70%!) on their way to 37-22 lead. The 37 points represented a team season-high for a quarter, most courtesy of an attacking style that saw the team get several layups and easy buckets. Though Charlotte would rally throughout the game to try to keep it close, they could never recover after the blitz of the opening stanza.

What Went Right

• The team shared the ball extremely well, rolling up 16 assists on 24 baskets in the first half. That kind of ratio is how you shoot 69% (24-35) in a half my friends.
  
• Josh Smith typically has good nights blocking shots, but whether it was on purpose or not (and we'll give him the benefit of the doubt), it seemed like almost every one of his five rejections tonight remained in play and ended up in the hands of a teammate rather than in the 4th row. People always say that was the great thing about Bill Russell, that he kept his blocks in play, and tonight J Smoove channeled the legend in that regard.
  
• Man, Marvin Williams has to have one of the prettiest jumpers in the league. The more his confidence grows, the more he is going to continue lighting teams up. It's hard to imagine he can continue shooting as well as he has to open this season, but the more nights he does it, the more plausible he makes it seem. Marv had three big buckets in the third quarter to keep the Bobcats at bay after they had trimmed the lead to six, and had several nice plays on the offensive glass and
• Joe Johnson has been relatively quiet since the season opener, but he has done damage in the past to Charlotte and did so again tonight, finishing the game with 34 points and 10 assists, his second double-double on the season.

• Injuries nipped at the Hawks tonight, though hopefully none were serious. Josh Smith checked out early in the third period with a lower leg injury, and then a few minutes later Bobcats C Ryan Hollins landed awkwardly on Acie Law's leg. Law was on the ground for several moments, and eventually had to be helped off the court as he was unable to put any weight on his left leg. Neither returned to action, but hopefully neither is serious enough to cause either guy to miss much time.
  
• Though the outcome never really seemed in danger, the Hawks let the Bobcats hang around a little longer than the coaching staff would have liked. Give credit to Charlotte though - they never give up.
  
• Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson both had big nights for Charlotte with 27 points apiece, and you'd like to see a little bit better defense on them. Still, the Hawks did a very good job limiting the scoring chances of the Bobcats top interior players Emeka Okafor and Primoz Brezec.
  

Michael W.

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