CHARLOTTE -- Marvin Williams scored 29 points and his impressive free-throw shooting keyed Atlanta's comeback from a 17-point deficit in the Hawks' 102-97 win over undermanned Charlotte Friday night.
Williams went 18-for-20 from the line and the Hawks won their second straight game without All-Star Joe Johnson, who remained in Atlanta with flu-like symptoms.
Maurice Evans added 17 points filling in for Johnson and the Hawks got two big defensive plays by Josh Smith in the final seconds to send the Bobcats to their fourth straight loss.
Raja Bell scored 17 points for Charlotte, but was lost late in the third quarter to a groin injury. Charlotte was also without top scorer Gerald Wallace for a fourth straight game.
With guard D.J. Augustin struggling in his return from abdominal injury, coach Larry Brown turned to an unusual lineup that included little-used Shannon Brown in the final minute. Brown then threw away an inbounds pass to Smith and later had his shot blocked by Smith.
Mike Bibby hit two clinching free throws with 2 seconds left to snap Atlanta's five-game losing streak in Charlotte despite getting only five points and four rebounds from Al Horford in his second game back from a knee injury.
Emeka Okafor had 15 points and 19 rebounds and Raymond Felton added 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Bobcats, but couldn't stop Atlanta's 35-22 onslaught in the third quarter that turned the game around.
NOTES: Gerald Wallace vows to come back soon from his lung and rib injuries. He is determined to be playing again in less than two weeks -- and holds no hard feelings toward Lakers center Andrew Bynum, whose flagrant foul caused Wallace's frightening injury in Los Angeles. ... The Bobcats will sign forward Cartier Martin to a second 10-day contract when his existing deal expires today.
ATLANTA (102) -- Williams 5-15 18-20 29, Smith 3-13 3-7 9, Horford 2-5 1-2 5, Evans 6-10 0-0 17, Bibby 5-13 3-3 15, Pachulia 4-10 2-4 10, Murray 5-9 1-1 13, Law 0-0 2-2 2, Jones 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-76 30-39 102.
CHARLOTTE (97) -- Morrison 2-6 0-0 4, Diaw 5-8 6-6 16, Okafor 6-11 3-7 15, Bell 6-11 5-5 17, Felton 5-17 4-4 15, Martin 3-7 3-4 11, Diop 3-5 0-0 6, Augustin 2-8 2-2 8, Brown 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 34-76 23-28 97.
Atlanta 19 24 35 24 -- 102
Charlotte 22 33 22 20 -- 97
3-Point Goals--Atlanta 10-18 (Evans 5-6, Bibby 2-4, Murray 2-4, Williams 1-3, Smith 0-1), Charlotte 6-19 (Augustin 2-4, Martin 2-5, Brown 1-1, Felton 1-4, Diaw 0-1, Bell 0-1, Morrison 0-3). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Atlanta 51 (Pachulia 8), Charlotte 50 (Okafor 19). Assists--Atlanta 16 (Bibby, Horford 4), Charlotte 23 (Felton 8). Total Fouls--Atlanta 20, Charlotte 28. Technicals--Pachulia, Diaw. A--15,140 (19,077).
ELSEWHERE
NO TRIPLE-DOUBLE: LeBron James never saw this steal coming. Two days after Cleveland's superstar recorded an apparent historic triple-double in a win against the Knicks, the NBA stripped James of one of his 10 rebounds after reviewing game tape.
CELTICS 110, KNICKS 100: Paul Pierce scored 26 points and Ray Allen finished with 22 to help Boston beat New York.
NUGGETS 124, WIZARDS 103: The Nuggets welcomed back starters Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups and showed no mercy in beating beaten-down Washington. Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 26 points and eight rebounds.
THUNDER 102, BLAZERS 93: Kevin Durant scored 31 points and outplayed Greg Oden in the first pro meeting between the top two picks of the 2007 NBA draft, and Oklahoma City beat Portland.
HORNETS 101, RAPTORS 92: Peja Stojakovic scored a season-high 28 points and the New Orleans Hornets tied a franchise record with 15 3-pointers, snapping their four-game losing streak.
Not all of the newspaper's content appears online.
*There is a fee for downloading some older articles.