The Atlanta Hawks closed the third quarter with a 24-3 run and held the Hornets without a field goal for just over nine minutes while cruising to a 94-72 win.
Atlanta started fast building a 27-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. New Orleans closed the gap in the second and the beginning of the third quarters before the Hawks put them away with the big third quarter run. Jeff Teague returned from an ankle injury on Friday to tie his career-high with 24 points in just 29 minutes of action. Teague hit 9-11 shots and was a perfect 4-4 from three-point range while also handing out four assists.
Marvin Williams added 14 points including 3-4 shooting from long range. Willie Green scored a season-high 16 points off the bench against his former club hitting 6-11 field goals and four threes. Atlanta wins despite Joe Johnson combining for 15 points on 7-25 shooting. The duo did combine to do a good job on the glass with Johnson grabbing a team-high nine boards and Smith finishing with eight.
Emeka Okafor led the Hornets with 13 points and eight rebounds. Jarrett Jack added 10 points while Greivis Vasquez added 10 points and eight assists off the bench. Trevor Ariza finished with nine points in the loss.
Atlanta improves to 15-6 on the season and 3-1 on their five-game road trip. The Hawks will finish up their trip on Tuesday in Toronto.
For more on this game Hawks fans should head on over to Peachtree Hoops and Hornets fans should stop by At The Hive. For more NBA news and analysis be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.