Hawks Vs. Bobcats Final Score: Atlanta Routs Lowly Charlotte

The Atlanta Hawks overwhelmed the visiting Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night, cruising to a 120-93 victory and climbing within a half game of Orlando for fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Josh Smith was terrific for the Hawks, needing just 27 minutes amass 24 points and nine rebounds. Atlanta also benefited from trio of Jannero Pargo, Marvin Williams and Willie Green coming off the bench to pour in 43 points.

The Bobcats had no match for Atlanta's offense, surrendering 47 field goals on just 83 attempts, and allowing Atlanta to shoot over 47 percent from beyond the three point line.

The win pushes Atlanta to 32-23, while Charlotte falls to an NBA-worst 7-45.

There's also the chance they get Anthony Davis in the draft at least, right?

For more on this game Hawks fans should check out Peachtree Hoops and Bobcats fans should visit Rufus On Fire. For more news and notes from around the NBA head over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball Page.

Bobcats Vs. Hawks Score: Josh Smith Leads Atlanta To 61-44 Lead At Halftime

The Atlanta Hawks got a big first half from Josh Smith and lead the Charlotte Bobcats 61-44 at halftime. After taking a 27-25 lead at the end of the first quarter, Atlanta exploded in the second outscoring Charlotte 34-19 to take control.

Josh Smith continued is splendid play hitting eight of 11 shots for 18 points. Smith also has six rebounds and three assists. Jeff Teague added 13 points and three assists while Marvin Williams scored seven off the bench.

Kemba Walker was just about the lone bright spot for the Bobcats scoring 11 points off the bench in the first half. Gerald Henderson, Reggie Williams and Byron Mullens finished the half with eight points each.

Atlanta hit 60 percent of its shots in the first half as they had their way with the Charlotte defense. Jannero Pargo made his return to action after having an appendectomy a little over two weeks ago. Pargo played three minutes and handed out two assists in the first half.

For more on this game Hawks fans should check out Peachtree Hoops and Bobcats fans should visit Rufus On Fire. For more news and notes from around the NBA head over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball Page.

NBA Eastern Conference Standings Update: Atlanta Hawks Currently In Sixth Place

With a little over three weeks left in the NBA regular season, the Eastern Conference playoff picture is still incredibly muddled.

While the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat have raced ahead of the pack to secure the top two seeds, only 5.5 games separate the third place Indiana Pacers from the eight place New York Knicks.

The Atlanta Hawks are directly in the middle of the pack, coming in at sixth place, one game behind the Orlando Magic and 1.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers.

However, thanks to a pretty soft schedule to close out the season, including two games each against the Charlotte Bobcats, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons, ESPN's John Hollinger projects them to get all the way up to the No. 3 slot by the end of the season.

Here are the full Eastern Conference standings as of Wednesday, April 4:

EASTERN		W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
1	x - Chicago	42	13	.764	-	21-6	21-7	10-1	31-7	96.8	88.8	+8.0	Lost 2	6-4
2	x - Miami	38	14	.731	2 ½	22-2	16-12	8-3	29-8	100.7	93.5	+7.1	Won 1	7-3
3	Indiana	32	21	.604	9	17-7	15-14	4-3	21-16	96.7	94.0	+2.7	Won 2	7-3
4	Boston	30	22	.577	10 ½	19-8	11-14	6-4	23-12	91.6	89.8	+1.8	Won 5	7-3
5	Orlando	32	22	.593	9 ½	18-10	14-12	7-5	25-14	94.3	92.7	+1.6	Lost 4	4-6
6	Atlanta	31	23	.574	10 ½	17-8	14-15	8-3	24-14	94.6	93.1	+1.5	Lost 1	6-4
7	Philadelphia	29	24	.547	12	19-10	10-14	4-3	22-13	93.6	88.0	+5.6	Lost 1	4-6
8	New York	27	27	.500	14 ½	18-10	9-17	6-6	20-17	97.2	94.7	+2.5	Lost 1	7-3
	Milwaukee	25	28	.472	16	12-12	13-16	5-6	19-18	98.7	98.4	+0.3	Won 1	6-4
	Detroit	20	33	.377	21	14-12	6-21	3-8	15-21	90.1	95.4	-5.3	Won 2	4-6
	Toronto	19	35	.352	22 ½	11-17	8-18	4-7	11-26	91.8	95.4	-3.6	Won 2	4-6
	New Jersey	19	36	.345	23	7-19	12-17	4-4	13-25	93.0	98.5	-5.5	Lost 1	4-6
	Cleveland	17	34	.333	23	9-18	8-16	3-7	9-26	93.2	99.7	-6.5	Lost 8	1-9
	Washington	12	41	.226	29	7-20	5-21	2-7	8-27	93.2	100.0	-6.8	Lost 2	2-8
	Charlotte	7	44	.137	33	4-20	3-24	1-8	5-31	87.9	100.4	-12.5	Lost 8	1-9

For the latest news and notes on the Hawks, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta and check out Peachtree Hoops.

Bobcats Vs. Hawks: Jannero Pargo Expected To Play, Vladimir Radmanovic Out

Slowly but surely the Atlanta Hawks are starting to get healthy. Point guard Jannero Pargo expects to return to action Wednesday night when the Hawks take on the Bobcats for the first time since having an appendectomy.

Jerry Stackhouse and Tracy McGrady are also expected to suit up and Al Horford took part in the non-contact portion of practice on Tuesday for the first time since having surgery on January 17. The Hawks enjoyed two days off before practicing on Tuesday in preparation for the final stretch of the regular season.

That means that the Hawks should have everyone available for Wednesday's game except Horford and forward Vladimir Radmanovic who has been ruled out with a back injury.

For more on this game Hawks fans should check out Peachtree Hoops and Bobcats fans should visit Rufus On Fire. For more news and notes from around the NBA head over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball Page.

Bobcats Vs. Hawks Time, TV, Radio Info And More

The Atlanta Hawks look to close the final stretch of the NBA season strong starting tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats.