The Atlanta Hawks won six of the last seven home games and made no exception for Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night at the Philips Arena. The 107-95 victory adds up to the five-game winning strike for the Atlanta team, which brings back memories since 1999, the last time they made the playoffs.
Joe Johnson was again the lead man for the Hawks and scored 26 points and had 11 assists, not bad considering the 32 points and 8 assists in the Friday game with the Washington Wizards. Martin Williams scored 22 points, while John Smith also contributed to Atlanta’s victory and scored 16 points with 14 rebounds.
The disappointed Indiana Pacers came after the Sunday victory over the same Washington Wizards, ended 93-85 and hoping to beat the Hawks at their own home. But things did not go according to plan. Danny Granger’s 8 rebounds and 25 points and Jermaine O’Neal’s 18 points and 8 rebounds were just not enough for Pacers to end Atlanta’s home winning strike.
Ten minutes before the end of the game, the Hawks were ahead of the Pacers 82-70 and heading for a new victory. But just 2 minutes later, Pacers came to a close score, 84-81, thanks to Murphy’s three point sets.
With only 2:32 left in the game, the score came once again to an edge, 96-92, and anything was possible. However, the could Pacers do nothing against the Atlanta Hawks, whose Smith brought them to a 105-95 score with 36.6 seconds left in the game. The Philips Arena encounter ended 105-95 and the Atlanta Hawks couldn’t be happier.
In other games, Warriors beat Timberwolves 105-101, with Monta Ellis scoring a whooping 35 points, the Wizards took over the Bobcats, 108-104, with a recovered Caron Butler who scored 25 points, the Nuggets passed the Bucks with 125-105, the Sixers beat Miami Heat 96-85, while Bulls took another hit, losing to the Spurs (94-79 for the San Antonio team). Chris Paul scored 40 points in the Hornets victory against the Grizzlies, while the Pistons took on the Nets 101-83, Magic beat Knicks 110-96 and Mavericks lost to Jazz in Dallas.