Starting Line-ups
Kings
- Beno Udrih
- Tyreke Evans
- Donté Greene
- Jason Thompson
- DeMarcus Cousins
Reserves: Jermaine Taylor, Luther Head, Samuel Dalembert, Carl Landry, Omri Casspi, Darnell Jackson, Pooh Jeter.
Inactive: Francisco Garcia (calf injury).
Hawks
- Mike Bibby
- Joe Johnson
- Josh Smith
- Al Horford
- Jason Collins
Reserves: Jamal Crawford, Zaza Pachulia, Etan Thomas, Maurice Evans, Josh Powell, Damien Wilkens, Jeff Teague.
First Quarter Recap
The Kings started the game on a 7-0 run, using quality ball movement and holding the Hawks to one shot on the defensive end. The Kings’ big men got it going early, dominating the glass and scoring both inside and out. Donté Greene, starting in place of the injured Francisco Garcia, came out strong in the first, scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds. Al Horford paced the Hawks, scoring 11 points and grabbing a team high four rebounds. The Kings killed the Hawks on the glass, taking a 15-7 rebounding lead to the second quarter. Beno Udrih finished strong, scoring most of his seven points down the stretch to help the Kings to a five point lead at the break.
Kings 32 Hawks 27
Leaders
Kings- Cousins (8) Points; Greene (6) Rebounds; Evans (2) Assists.
Hawks- Horford (11) Points; Horford (4) Rebounds; Johnson (3) Assists.
Second Quarter Recap
The Kings started the second hot, taking the Hawks inside and scoring on them at will. After some sloppy play by the Kings, the Hawks got right back in the game, cutting the Kings’ lead from their high of 10 to four at the 7:35 mark. Coach Paul Westphal responded to the Hawks’ run by going back to his starters, who stabilized the game and quickly pushed the lead back to eight. Joe Johnson caught fire in the second, scoring 14 of his game high 18 and bringing his team right back into the game. After letting their lead slip all the way back down to three, the Kings used another surge to go into the half leading by nine. Rebounding was again the stat of the quarter, with the Kings taking a 29-16 advantage to the break.
Kings 62 Hawks 53
Leaders
Kings- Thompson (12) Points; Greene (7) Rebounds; Dalembert (3) Assists.
Hawks- Johnson (18) Points; Horford (6) Rebounds; Johnson (4) Assists.
Team Kings Hawks
FG% 50.0% 48.9%
Rebounds 29 16
Assists/TO 10/4 14/5
Third Quarter Recap
The Kings came out loose, taking questionable shots early in the shot clock. DeMarcus Cousins got it going, running his game total to 18 points to go with five rebounds, but Joe Johnson continued to punish the Kings. The Hawks’ star finished the third with a game high 26 points, scoring from all over the court, but neither he nor his teammates scored a single point in the last 3:22 of the quarter. The Kings turned the ball over three times through three quarters of play and after a buzzer beating baseline jumper from Jason Thompson, they took a nine point lead to the fourth quarter.
Kings 82 Hawks 73
Leaders
Kings- Cousins (18) Points; Greene (10) Rebounds; Dalembert (4) Assists.
Hawks- Johnson (26) Points; Horford (8) Rebounds; 3 tied (5) Assists.
Fourth Quarter Recap
The Kings’ offense stagnated to start the fourth, but their defense held strong (at least initially). The Kings turned the ball over three times in the first four minutes of the fourth after only giving it away three times the previous three quarters. At the eight minute mark, the Kings’ lead was down to two and the Hawks looked primed to take advantage. Joe Johnson tied the game at 86-86 at the seven minute mark, and at the 6:40 mark the Hawks took their first lead of the game at 88-86.
After scoring 82 points through three quarters, the Kings only scored a total of four points through the first seven minutes of the fourth. Trailing by seven with 4:22 left, Pooh Jeter hit a side pop to cut the Hawks’ lead to five. Cousins grabbed his sixth rebound and hammered down a put back to cut the lead to three, giving him 20 for the night. Joe Johnson answered on the other end with a huge three pointer, giving the Hawks a six point lead.
The Kings kept fighting, cutting the lead to 96-94 with 1:31 left on a pair of Tyreke Evans’ free throws. After a series of misses and mistakes, Carl Landry scored on a fast break lay-up to tie the game at 96-96. Joe Johnson scored on an amazing one-on-one move to give the Hawks a two point lead with 23 seconds left. Tyreke Evans froze Damien Wilkens with an up-fake and went right around him to tie the game at 98-98 with 11.6 left. With .6 of a second left, the officials called a touch foul on Tyreke Evans against a shooting Joe Johnson to send him to the line. Johnson hit both, giving the Hawks the win.
Kings lose.
Kings 98 Hawks 100
Leaders
Kings- Cousins (20) Points; Greene (11) Rebounds; Dalembert (4) Assists.
Hawks- Johnson (36) Points; Smith (10) Rebounds; Crawford (7) Assists.
Team Kings Hawks
FG% 44.6% 47.0%
Rebounds 47 38
Assists/TO 18/6 25/10
Player of the Game: Joe Johnson. Johnson makes a lot of money and he is worth every penny of it. The all-star guard scored 36 points on 16-27 shooting from the field. He also kicked in six assists, five rebounds and although he only attempted three free throws, two of those came with .6 left in the game to give the Hawks the win.
The Difference Maker: Al Horford. Horford started off really hot and cooled as the game went on, but his seven block shots changed the game on the defensive end. Horford finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the game, providing the inside punch to go with Johnson’s outside work.
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