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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – There's no cure for a slumping team quite
like a game against the Atlanta Hawks.
|  | | David Wesley, who led the Hornets with 27 points, drives between a swarm of Hawks. |
The Charlotte Hornets, desperate to snap out of their six-week
long funk, beat the Hawks 101-84 on Thursday night to snap their
four-game losing streak.
It was just their seventh win in their last 22 games, but
afterward the Hornets said the victory did wonders for their
crumbling confidence.
"This just puts a good taste in your mouth," said David
Wesley, who led all scorers with 27 points.
"It was a good all-around game, so we know what we are capable
of. And we know we can again play the kind of basketball we were
earlier this season."
The Hawks showed they are playing the same kind of basketball
they have been all season by losing their fifth consecutive game
and dropping 17 games below .500.
They also lost center Dikembe Mutombo with a sprained ankle and
forward Hanno Mottola with a sprained left elbow when both were
injured in the fourth quarter.
Mutombo said the injury shouldn't keep him out of Sunday's
All-Star Game.
"I just twisted it and thought I should come out because I have
a game on Sunday," Mutombo said. "I still expect to play."
Atlanta coach Lon Kruger said Mottola's injury wasn't serious.
"Nothing was broken, so I think it's just a minor thing,"
Kruger said.
The Hawks weren't much of a challenge for Charlotte, which badly
wanted to head into the All-Star break on a winning note. A loss
would have dropped them below .500 for the first time this season.
But they dominated early, built a quick 15 point lead, and
sustained it with decent bench production for the first time in
weeks.
"I told the guys before the game that production gets you
minutes," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. "It's not the other
way around. If you give me production, you play."
That meant Derrick Coleman went back to the bench after a
one-game experiment back in the starting lineup. He scored six
points and had six rebounds in 19 minutes, but didn't play at all
in the fourth quarter.
Baron Davis had 18 points and nine assists for Charlotte. Elden
Campbell added 13 points, and Eddie Robinson had 11.
P.J. Brown, who returned to the starting lineup in place of
Coleman, had 11 rebounds.
"This was a good team win," Brown said. "We did the little
things that we haven't been doing lately. We passed the ball, we
played good defense, and our transition game was good."
Jason Terry led Atlanta with 22 points. DerMarr Johnson added
13.
Davis, who will participate in the Slam Dunk contest this
weekend, closed the first half with one of his highlight slams.
With three seconds to play, he stole the ball from Terry and
sprinted the length of the court with both eyes on the shot clock.
He went airborne just inside the free-throw line and slammed the
ball in from high above the rim just as the clock expired to give
the Hornets a 56-41 lead at the break.
Charlotte had stretched its lead to 66-49 with 7:17 to play in
the third quarter when Atlanta briefly climbed back into the game.
The Hawks went on a 13-3 run, and scored eight straight points
in a two minute span, to pull within 69-62 with 3:03 to go.
But Charlotte answered with three straight baskets and a free
throw from Robinson to make it 76-63 at the end of the quarter.
The Hawks cut it to 11 once in the fourth quarter on Alan
Henderson's jumper, but the Hornets slowly pulled away.
"Charlotte just controlled the game from start to finish,"
Kruger said. "We made two mini-runs, but I don't think we ever
scared them."
Game notes
Davis played despite having made a 24-hour trip to Los
Angeles for his father's funeral. Walter Davis was buried on
Wednesday. Baron Davis left after Tuesday's night game for the
funeral and didn't get back into Charlotte until 5 a.m. Thursday.
... Mutombo and Coleman exchanged words after Coleman was called
for a flagrant foul in the second quarter. ... Charlotte's Jamal
Mashburn was held to seven points on 2-for-13 shooting. It was the
first time since Dec. 5 he failed to score in double figures.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Charlotte Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 99
Denver 92
Charlotte 101
Atlanta 84
Houston 103
Detroit 90
New Jersey 99
San Antonio 97
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Baron Davis Official Site
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