Hawks at Hornets
THE STORY: The New Orleans Hornets attempt to win back-to-back games for the first time since winning their first two games of the season when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. New Orleans routed the Orlando Magic on Friday 93-67 to halt a nine-game losing skid and win for just the second time in 17 games. The Hornets held Orlando under 20 points in each quarter in their best overall showing of the season. “The performance that the guys put on, I just wanted to sit back and watch and applaud that,” guard Jarrett Jack said. “It’s all the hard work we put in.” The Hawks notched an improbable 107-101 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday, overcoming a six-point deficit in the final 40 seconds of regulation. Joe Johnson hit the tying 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left and Atlanta controlled the overtime. “To me, it’s just an unbelievable win,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “It was a gutsy performance. We were literally dead in the water.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), Cox Sports Television (New Orleans)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (14-6): Johnson fueled the comeback win over the Pistons by scoring 28 of his 30 points after halftime. He finished 11-of-23 despite missing eight of his nine first-half shots. Johnson is averaging 22 points over the past nine games and went over the 14,000-career point mark against Detroit. Johnson is 141 points away from becoming just the seventh player to score 10,000 points in a Hawks’ uniform. Atlanta is 10-1 when Johnson scores 20 or more points.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (4-15): New Orleans wasn’t able to ink guard Eric Gordon to an extension before Wednesday’s deadline and now plans to trade inactive center Chris Kaman. The two players came to the Hornets in the deal that sent All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers. Kaman has struggled with the Hornets while playing inconsistent minutes. “We mutually decided for a number of reasons that we are not going to play Chris as we pursue a trade,” New Orleans general manager Dell Demps said.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Hawks scored the fewest points since moving from St. Louis to Atlanta in 1968 when they lost to the Hornets 100-59 on Jan. 21, 2011.
2. Atlanta guard Jeff Teague sprained his left ankle Friday and his availability for Sunday is uncertain.
3. The Hornets are 2-9 at home after routing Orlando.