March 31st, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
The Atlanta Hawks are making it very difficult for the teams just underneath them to even?come close to them in the Eastern Conference playoff race; they had the good fortune of playing the Memphis Grizzlies Monday night.? Six Hawks scored in double-digits, leading Atlanta to the easy 116-99 victory over Memphis at DeadEx FedEx Forum.
Both teams shot pretty well as Atlanta shot 55.8% from the floor, while Memphis didn’t shoot badly either as they shot 53.9%; perhaps the difference is that the Grizzlies stunk at the free-throw line, shooting a paltry?47.4% (9-of-19).? The game was just like the final score indicated as the Hawks led for the vast majority of the game; while Atlanta led by as much as 38 late in the third quarter, the Grizzlies made things interesting for a bit as they actually chipped away at the lead and go to within 12 points.? But Atlanta’s early advantage was simply too much for the Grizzlies.
Atlanta had 6 players in double-digits, led by Josh Smith with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and a block while Joe Johnson and Al Horford scored 19 apiece – Johnson also drained 4 treys, grabbed a rebound and dished out 8 assists?while Horford grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out an assist; Mike Bibby added 17, including 3 treys, 2 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.? Memphis was led by Rudy Gay with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while reserves Kyle Lowry and Juan Carlos Navarro added 17 each – with Lowry grabbing 3 rebounds and dishing out 2 assists while Navarro drained a trio of 3-pointers, grabbed 2 rebounds and dished out 2 assists.? Atlanta (34-40) returns home to host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday while Memphis (19-55) stays home to host the New York Knicks – also on Wednesday.
