Thornton’s Career High Lets Clippers Sail Past Hawks 95-88

Los Angeles Clippers rookie forward Al Thornton came off the bench Wednesday night scoring a career high 33 points, and led the Clippers past the Atlanta Hawks 95-88. The Clippers won the game despite being without the services of starting forward Corey Maggette, and starting center Chris Kaman. Both were out with the flu, as the bug seems to be sweeping the NBA over the last week or so. The Hawks would attempt a comeback in the fourth quarter, but they fell short of their goal.

Atlanta had a razor thin lead at the end of the?first quarter, leading the Clippers 21-20, but Los Angeles came back in the second quarter to grab a 48-41 advantage as the two teams went to their respective locker rooms at?the half. Los Angeles increased their lead to 74-61 as the two teams, headed into the final quarter. The Clippers had pushed the lead to 20 points, as they led 89-69?on a Tim Thomas layup with 6:28 remaining in the game and the contest appeared to be over. However Atlanta?went on an incredible?19-2 run pulling within 3 points, at 91-88? with just 46 seconds remaining in the game. But it was like the team hit an invisible wall as they never scored another point, and Atlanta increased the lead back up to 7?to clinch the win.??

Thornton shot 13-20 from the floor, 2-4 from outside the arc, and 5-5 from the line for his new career high of 33 points, he also had 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1?assist, 1 steal. Thomas scored 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, Sam Cassell also scored 14?points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1? steal. Cuttino Mobley scored 12 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, Quinton Ross also scored 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block.?

Josh Smith led Atlanta, with a double-double, scoring 21 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. Joe Johnson scored 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, Hawks rookie Al Horford recorded a double-double scoring 14 points, 10 boards, 1 steal. Josh Childress came off the bench to score 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 2 steals, Marvin Williams? scored 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, in the loss. The Clippers now have a record of 14-28, the Hawks are 18-24.