Hawks 101, Bobcats 91: Al Horford had a team-high 26 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the floor as visiting Atlanta prevented Charlotte from matching last season's win total.
Horford also had 13 rebounds and Kyle Korver drilled four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points for the Hawks, who have won four in a row.
Ramon Sessions continued his stellar play off the bench with a team-high 22 points for the Bobcats (6-5), who fell for just the second time in seven outings. Charlotte mustered just seven wins during all of last season.
DeShawn Stevenson's 3-pointer gave Atlanta a seemingly comfortable 97-83 lead with 3:05 remaining before Charlotte scored eight unanswered points to make it a two-possession game.
Horford thwarted the comeback bid after accepting a brilliant feed from Josh Smith for a dunk. The big man then capped the scoring with an 18-foot jumper.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Charlotte's Jeff Taylor had 16 points to set a career high for the third straight game. He had 10 versus Milwaukee on Monday and 11 against Toronto two nights later . ... Atlanta won all four of its meetings with Charlotte last season. ... The Hawks entered Friday's action leading the NBA in forced turnovers. Charlotte committed 15 against Atlanta.
Atlanta | Charlotte | |
Al Horford 26 | Scoring | Ramon Sessions 22 |
Jeff Teague 12 | Assists | Kemba Walker 9 |
Al Horford 13 | Rebounds | Byron Mullens 8 |
Zaza Pachulia 3 | Free Throws Made | Ramon Sessions 8 |
Josh Smith 2 | Steals | Byron Mullens 6 |
Devin Harris 3 | Blocks | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Atlanta | 101 | 53.8 | 11-22 | 6-14 | 29 | 41 | 15 | 6 | 22 |
Charlotte | 91 | 37.3 | 8-22 | 21-26 | 17 | 36 | 9 | 16 | 15 |