Crawford, Johnson Help Hawks Claw Kings 113-105

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap

The Sacramento Kings, in their game on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks, were looking to pick up some momentum from their most recent win last Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies. And the thing was that the Kings were competitive against the Hawks for three quarters. Unfortunately, the Hawks got some clutch shooting from Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson enabled Atlanta to continue their winning ways as they best Sacramento 113-105 at Arco Arena.

Sacramento jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before Atlanta charged back to take an 19-18 lead on a Maurice Evans basket with 2:39 of the opening period. Crawford would score the Hawks’ last seven points to give Atlanta a 26-24 lead going into the second quarter. The Kings and Hawks played the second frame evenly as both teams shot well with Atlanta taking a 56-55 lead into halftime.

After seven lead changes in the third quarter, the Hawks led 76-72 after Josh Smith converted a three-point play with 4:22 left in the period; the Kings came back with a 10-3 run, capped by a Beno Udrih trey to make the score 84-79. Kevin Martin had 25 points going into the fourth quarter, but Sacramento – who was ahead by four – allowed Atlanta to surge back to a 93-92 after a trey by Mike Bibby with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Johnson’s jumper with 3:20 remaining extended the Hawks lead to seven then they would hold on for the victory.

Six Hawks scored in double-digits, led by Johnson and Crawford with 26 points each – with Johnson grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists while Crawford drained 3 treys while grabbing 2 rebounds, and dishing out 4 assists; Smith added 14 with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks.

The Kings were led in scoring by Martin with 29 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while Jason Thompson added 22 with 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block; Tyreke Evans chipped in 15 with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Atlanta (4-1) plays again when they visit Charlotte to take on the Bobcats while Sacramento (1-4) travels ot Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Updates, Fresh From the Oven, Straight to Your Inbox