Football
Associated Press 16y

Smith, Hawks overcome 21-point deficit to beat Timberwolves, 94-87

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Atlanta Hawks have won two in a row on
the road.

That those wins have come against the teams with two of the
worst records in the NBA matters not to these Hawks.

Sure they trailed by double digits in the fourth quarter of both
of them, but after losing the previous 17 away from home, the Hawks
will take them wherever and however they can get them.

Josh Smith scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to
help Atlanta erase a 21-point deficit in a 94-87 victory over the
Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

"We stayed together," said Tyronn Lue, who scored seven of his
13 points in the fourth quarter.

That hasn't always been the case in Atlanta, where the Hawks
have had eight straight losing seasons and are looking for even the
smallest signs of progress.

Joe Johnson scored 25 points, and Smith added eight rebounds
five assists, five blocks and three steals for the Hawks, who
overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win at Miami on
Wednesday night.

"We can't dig ourselves these types of holes and expect to get
out of them every game in the second half," Johnson said. "I
think we still have a lot to work on and we need to start games off
right."

Al Jefferson had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Marko Jaric
added 20 and six assists for the Timberwolves, an NBA-worst 1-10.
But the Timberwolves shot 26.5 percent, committed 13 turnovers and
managed just 21 points in a horrendous second half. The 21-point
advantage was the third-largest lead Minnesota has blown in
franchise history.

"Yeah, this is pretty tough," an exasperated Wolves coach
Randy Wittman said when asked if this was the most difficult loss
yet in a season full of them.

Things couldn't have gone much better for the Timberwolves in
the first half. Jefferson and Antoine Walker combined to hit all 11
of their shots and they led by 18 points at halftime and 11 to
start the fourth quarter.

But once again, these young Wolves couldn't come up with enough
offense in crunch time as they lost their fifth straight.

"We played scared," Wittman said. "We played on our heels and
we played not to lose instead of to win."

With Jefferson on the bench to start the fourth, Lue opened with
a 3-pointer from the elbow that started a 7-0 run, and suddenly
Minnesota's lead had dwindled to four.

After a couple of debatable calls went Atlanta's way, the
Timberwolves seemed to come unglued, and Smith took over.

He hit a pair of free throws, converted a three-point play and
then hit a 3-pointer during a 14-0 run to give the Hawks an 87-78
lead with 4 minutes to go.

"They were huge," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said of Smith and
Lue. "Lue hit big shots and got us in our offense and did enough
to secure the win."

After receiving a standing ovation from the sparse home crowd at
halftime, the Wolves heard plenty of boos as the lead disintegrated
and Wittman slammed his hands on the press table in frustration as
the game slipped away.

Afterward, Wolves rookie Corey Brewer milled around the locker
room and was told of the team's 10 losses.

"We have 10? Already?" said Brewer, who is coming off two
straight national titles at Florida. "Ten came around quick."

The Timberwolves shot 66 percent and played almost flawlessly in
the first half to jump out to a big lead.

Jefferson was owning rookie Al Horford and the Hawks on the low
block until Woodson started running double- and triple-teams at him
in the second half. That strategy paid off, limiting Jefferson's
touches and creating turnovers that helped the Hawks get back in
the game.

Atlanta had five dunks and forced eight turnovers in the third
quarter to cut the lead to 75-64 after three quarters.

"We know he can beat you and we had to make a change to get the
ball out of his hands to filter it around to someone else,"
Woodson said. "It happened to work tonight."

Game notes
Smith, who also had eight rebounds and five assists, put on
a shot-blocking show in the third quarter, emphatically swatting a
dunk by Jefferson, a jumper by Marko Jaric and a layup by Brewer.
... Atlanta rookie PG Acie Law IV (ankle) did not make the trip. F
Lorenzen Wright (hamstring) also missed the game. ... Timberwolves
C Theo Ratliff missed his fourth straight game with a sore knee.

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