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Smith leads Hawks past Thunder
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ATLANTA — Josh Smith scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Jeff Teague added 16 points and the Atlanta Hawks snapped Oklahoma City's seven-game winning streak with a 97-90 victory over the Thunder on Saturday night.

Kevin Durant finished with 35 points, going 14 of 17 on free throw attempts, and Russell Westbrook had 25 points for league-best Oklahoma City.

Smith, who matched a season-high in scoring and pulled down seven of his 12 rebounds in the fourth, had dunks on consecutive possessions to give the Hawks an 87-79 lead with 4:43 remaining.

Then, after forcing Durant to commit a turnover and pounding his first against his own chest with 3:04 left, Smith matched Durant 3-pointer for 3-pointer to put Atlanta up 92-88 at the 2-minute mark.

One minute later, Smith drove past Ibaka on the right side and rolled in a left-handed hook to make it 95-90. His efforts helped the Hawks win their second straight.

The Thunder, looking to reach eight straight wins for the first time since February 2010, briefly rallied from their biggest deficit, 11 points on two free throws by Williams at the 2:15 mark of the second quarter, when Cole Aldrich's two free throws put Oklahoma City up 71-70 near the end of the third.

Durant missed four of his first five shots from the field before faking out Marvin Williams at the top of the key and hitting a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 51-45 in the final seconds of the first half.

The Thunder dropped to 8-2 against the Eastern Conference

Durant, the MVP of last Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, was just 3 of 10 from the field in the final period, launching missed 3s at the end to try and keep the score close.

Joe Johnson, the Hawks' leading scorer this season, has missed five of the last six games with left knee tendinitis. Kirk Hinrich and Zaza Pachulia help fill the offensive void by each scoring 10 points. Pachulia also had 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

 

 

NOTES: Oklahoma City C Kendrick Perkins had two points and five rebounds in 16 minutes before fouling out with 4:09 remaining. ... The Thunder outscored Atlanta 20-4 in fastbreak points. ... Hawks reserve G Tracy McGrady did not return after playing 1 minute of the first quarter and straining his left knee.