NBA Game Summary - Charlotte at Atlanta

04.11.2005

Atlanta, GA (Basketball News) - Keith Bogans scored a team-high 21 points, Brevin Knight posted a double-double and Charlotte defeated Atlanta, 110-105, in an overtime battle between the league’s two worst teams at Philips Arena.

Knight collected 17 points with 10 assists, while Emeka Okafor contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who snapped an eight-game losing streak.

"We expected the Hawks to compete, they are a team of kindred spirits," said Charlotte head coach Bernie Bickerstaff. "When you talk about the Hawks and when you talk about us you’re talking about effort."

Josh Childress paced the Hawks with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Tyronn Lue added 18 points and a career-high 14 assists. Josh Smith chipped in 17 points for dismal Atlanta, which has dropped 31 of its last 34 contests.

The Hawks are now 12-65 on the season, while the expansion Bobcats sit with a 16-61 record.

Charlotte, which led 80-79 after three quarters, held a slim 101-99 edge with under 30 seconds to play in a competitive final stanza. However, Lue’s driving layup on Atlanta’s ensuing possession tied the game at 101-101 with 17.2 seconds to go.

The Bobcats had a chance for the win but Okafor missed a baseline jumper as time expired, forcing the extra frame.

After each team exchanged baskets in the overtime, Knight’s layin gave the Bobcats the lead for good at 105-103 with around two minutes left in the stanza. Tom Gugliotta then missed a wide open three from the corner on the Hawks next series and Gerald Wallace sealed the win with a short jumper with 47 seconds to go to make it 107-103.

Atlanta wasted little time racing out to a large lead. Jason Collier’s trey from the corner staked the Hawks to a comfortable 18-9 with just under eight minutes left in the opening stanza. Atlanta then carried a 35-28 cushion into the second.

"I thought we were ready to play right out of the box and built a big lead," said Hawks head coach Mike Woodson. "We just couldn’t hold it."

The Hawks’ margin would grow to 42-29 on Smith’s jumper with around eight minutes remaining in the first half. Charlotte, though, responded with a 23-10 flurry, capped by Bogans’ bucket at the 3:00 mark of the half to tie the game at 52-52.

The score was then knotted at 57-57 heading into the locker room. Bogans paced all players with 16 points for the Bobcats, while Childress netted 14 for the Hawks at the break.

"I’m learning this league, I’m on an expansion team," said Bogans. "I’m not at a powerhouse school."

Charlotte improved to just 4-34 in foreign buildings. The Bobcats snapped a four-game losing streak on the road....The Hawks have not won back-to- back games all season. The last NBA team to go an entire season without back- to-back wins was the Los Angeles Clippers during the 1986-87 season..Atlanta center Predrag Drobnjak left the contest with 5:16 remaining in the fourth with an ankle injury. He did not return and finished with 16 points...Wallace ended with eight points and Collier finished with 10 for the Hawks.

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