December 18th, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
During the Atlanta Hawks’ game against the Utah Jazz at Philips Arena, neither team shot very well; both shot well under 50 percent (Atlanta shot 44.6% while Utah bricked at 42.9%), yet when it mattered the most, Atlanta scored big as they exploded on a 30-6 run in the third quarter before coasting to the 96-83 win over Utah.
The first quarter was rather closely played although Joe Johnson’s running jumper with 4:26 left in the first period gave the Hawks a 21-10 bulge but a quick 8-1 run would pull the Jazz to within 22-18 going into the second quarter. Utah managed to get to within 10 on an Andrei Kirilenko jumper in the final minute of the half at 44-34, which would be the score at halftime.
The Hawks outscored the Jazz 30-6 to open the third quarter before a Paul Millsap jumper made it 71-42 before going into the final period ahead 81-51. Utah did make some ground in the fourth quarter despite outscoring Atlanta 32-15 but by the beginning of the period it was too late.
Josh Smith led all Hawks scorers with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks while Marvin Williams added 15 with 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal. The Jazz was led by Kirilenko with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks while Wesley Matthews and Eric Maynor added 11 each – with Matthews grabbing 2 rebounds, dished out an assist along with a steal while Maynor grabbed 7 boards, dished out 7 assists along with 2 steals and a block.
Atlanta (19-6) plays again on Saturday when they fly to Chicago to take on the Bulls while Utah (15-11) makes the short commute to Charlotte to face the Bobcats – also on Saturday night.
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