The Atlanta Hawks came up on the losing side of a wild game in Denver falling to the Nuggets in overtime by a score of 118-117. The Hawks had several chances to seal the victory and none bigger than Kirk Hinrich's missed free throw at the end of regulation or Zaza Pachulia's missed layup with less than three seconds remaining.
After Josh Smith fouled out of the game in overtime, Atlanta forced the ball through Joe Johnson who was being guarded by Denver's best defender in Aaron Afflalo. Johnson missed a go-ahead attempt with Afflalo hounding him but the ball went out of bounds to the Hawks with just three seconds remaining. Atlanta would inbound from under their own basket and Zaza Pachulia got loose in the middle but missed a semi contested layup at the rim that would have won the game.
The loss spoils big nights from both Joe Johnson and Josh Smith. Johnson finished with 34 points going 13-26 but was much better when Smith was on the floor. Smith recorded a near triple-double finishing with 33 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Kirk Hinrich had his best game of the season hitting 7-8 shots for 22 points but missed that one costly free throw at the end of regulation that would have won it for the Hawks.
Nene finished with a game-high 22 points for the Nuggets. Ty Lawson finished with 21 while Danilo Gallinari added 19 including an unbelievable falling away three-pointer to put the Nuggets up late at the end of regulation. Former Atlanta Hawks forward Al Harrington added 19 points off the bench.
Atlanta falls to 24-18 on the season and 2-3 on their current road trip which wraps up on Wednesday in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
For more on this game Hawks fans should visit Peachtree Hoops and Nuggets fans should check out Denver Stiffs. For more news and analysis from around the NBA head over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.