Hornets 111, Hawks 100
ATLANTA - The New Orleans Hornets rode a 20-4 run in the third quarter to a 111-100 win over the Atlanta Hawks Friday night at Philips Arena.
Both teams were living beyond the 3-point arc. The Hawks made 13 of 24 treys; the Hornets made 9 of 6.
Eric Gordon's 25-foot 3-point shot at 5:14 in the third quarter gave the Hornets (17-33) their first lead since the opening tip, 68-66. Gordon finished with 27 points.
Greivis Vasquez had his first career triple-double, with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. Robin Lopez had 17 points and seven rebounds, and Ryan Anderson made four 3-point shots while scoring 19 points.
The Hornets committed 11 turnovers in the first half but none in the third quarter and only two in the fourth.
In a 27-point swing, the Hawks went from being 14 points ahead to trailing by 13 points with seven minutes left in the game. Then the Hawks started running again, scoring seven points in 53 seconds as the clock wound down to six minutes remaining.
Josh Smith had 10 of his 21 points for the Hawks (27-22) in the first quarter. He added six rebounds and eight assists.
Jeff Teague, continuing a string of strong performances, scored 18 points in his first 20 minutes on the floor. He finished with 21. Teague has scored 20 or more points in three straight games for the first time in his young career.
Kyle Korver hit a 3-point shot at 3:27 in first quarter to set a Hawks franchise record for made 3-pointers in consecutive games, 43 straight. He had 17 points on the night.
Al Horford, the Hawks second-leading scorer, had a forgettable night, with only two points and three rebounds through three quarters. But he persisted to finish with 12 points and six rebounds.
Notes: Hawks guard Lou Williams underwent surgery Thursday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The procedure was performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Gulf Breeze, Fla. Andrews was assisted by Hawks orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ashok Reddy. Williams will be rehabbing at the Andrews Institute for the next 2-3 weeks. At the time of his injury, Williams ranked third on the team in scoring (14.1), assists (3.6) and steals (1.1) and was shooting .422 from the field, including career-bests .367 from 3-point range and .868 from the free-throw line in 28.7 minutes a game (39 games, nine starts). ... Teague has been chosen to participate in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge on Saturday during All-Star Weekend in Houston. ... Hornets coach Monty Williams, asked before the game what individual matchups he would be looking at, mentioned two: "[Davis] and Josh. That's a matchup that we'll watch right from the start. I just think Horford, he just makes it goofy for you because he can knock down, he can pass, he can push it in transition. Robin [Lopez] is not used to guarding a guy who can dribble in transition and play like a guard." Horford and Smith scored 43 points in the Hawks' 95-86 win over the Hornets in New Orleans on New Year's Day. ... The Hornets were wearing purple, green and gold Mardi Gras uniforms.
