Atlanta 83, Charlotte 79 | Dec. 15, 2008 | Philips Arena

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• It might not have been pretty, but a win is certainly win, no matter how you get it, as the Atlanta Hawks won their third straight contest Monday with an 83-79 victory over division rival Charlotte.
• The win, Atlanta's seventh consecutive at Philips, moves the Eastern Conference's fourth-best squad to 15-9 on the season.
• Joe Johnson scored six of Atlanta's 15 points in the fourth as the Hawks held Charlotte scoreless over the first five minutes of the period en route to the win.
• He had a game-high 28, while Josh Smith finished with 15, seven rebounds and five blocks. Mike Bibby finished with 14 and Al Horford had his fourth double-double with 12 points and 14 boards.
• Former Hawk Boris Diaw had 25 to lead Charlotte.
• Charlotte was the aggressor in the first half, shooting 50% and forcing the Hawks into a 41 percent clip, while taking a six-point lead into the lockerroom, 48-42.
• Diaw had 13 to lead the Bobcats, and Johnson and Bibby each had 10.
• The Hawks bounced back in the third behind Johnson's 12 quarter points, and tied things up at 68 heading into the final period. They finally shot over 50 percent (54.5%) for the first time in any quarter.
• Atlanta led for the first time when Horford converted a layup to start the fourth. A couple of blocks by Smith thwarted the B-cats and the Hawks scored the first six points of the quarter. They held the Bobcats to 11 fourth quarter points.
• Next up for the Hawks is a nationally-televised tilt against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, making their first return to Atlanta since their playoff appearance seven months ago (7 pm, 790 AM, SSN, ESPN).

Photo Of The Night

Joe (like the rest of the Hawks) started slow, but finished with a game-high 28 points.

What You Really Need To Know
The Hawks didn't have the lead in this game until 11:11 left in the fourth quarter, but once they had it they never let it go to record a 83-79 win over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats. Atlanta held the Bobcats to just 11 fourth quarter points thanks in a large part to a combined six blocked shots from Josh Smith and Al Horford. Things were not always pretty for the Hawks as they connected on only 1-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half.

Fantasy MVP: Al Horford
On a night when a trio of Hawks turned in solid all-around games, Al Horford filled up the stat sheet the most, finishing with 12 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots. Special Mentions: Josh Smith (15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks) and Joe Johnson (28 points, 8 assists).


Momentum Changer
The buzzer at the end of the third quarter was the only momentum changer the Hawks needed. Trailing by two, the Hawks turned up the intensity on defense and only gave up five points through the first nine minutes of the fourth, taking a nine point lead and control of the game.

What Went Right

• Rebounding. The Hawks held the Bobcats to a season-best four offensive rebounds and won the battle of the boards 47-33.
• 4th Quarter 'D'. 11 points... and two of them came on a meaningless basket as time ran out.
• A Win is a Win. It wasn't always pretty, but the standing will look the same tomorrow as they would if the Hawks played a perfect game.

• 3 Ball. The Hawks made just 1-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half, with Joe, Mike, Marvin and Flip combining to go 0-for-9. While Joe did connect on two big shots in the third quarter, Atlanta finished 3-for-20 for the game from long distance.
• Bench Scoring. Six points from the bench is not going to get the job done on most nights. Mo and Flip combined to shoot 2-for-15 from the field. Maybe they were just picking a good night to get it out of their system. The bench did out-rebound the Bobcats bench 12-5.