Smith's lifts Hawks past Bobcats 102-96 in OT

The Atlanta Hawks went to overtime for a second straight night, pulling out a 102-96 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday behind 23 points and 13 rebounds from Josh Smith. The Hawks lost in triple-overtime to the Miami Heat the night before, but made sure there wouldn't be multiple extra periods needed by scoring the first seven points, with early 3-pointers by Jeff Teague and Joe Johnson. Marvin Williams added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Al Horford scored 15 points for the Hawks (5-3). D.J. Augustin led the Bobcats with 21 points and 12 assists, while Kemba Walker added 19 points and Byron Mullens had 17 points off the bench. The Bobcats (2-5) trailed most of the second half, but tied the game with 6.5 seconds left as Horford was called for goaltending after an offensive rebound and put back by Boris Diaw. Both teams had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. Horford missed a baseline jumper and the ball went out of bounds with 1.1 seconds left. The Bobcats got the ball at half court after a timeout, but Diaw missed a turnaround fadeaway jumper, sending the game into overtime. It was all Hawks from there. Teague hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to start the overtime period. After a turnover by Mullens, Smith was fouled and made one of two foul shots. But the Hawks got the rebound of the missed free throw and Johnson canned a 3-pointer from the right wing, making the Bobcats pay in what essentially amounted to a 4-point play. The Bobcats attempted to battle back behind a three-point play by Mullens and a driving layup by Gerald Henderson, but Johnson put the game away with a 15-footer. Johnson finished with 14 points. Early on it looked like the Bobcats were the tired team. Playing without their veteran leader Corey Maggette, who's out two to four weeks with a strained left hamstring, Charlotte shot just 35 percent from the field, missing several easy layups along the way to fall behind 43-35 at the break. Charlotte shot just 39 percent for the game. The Hawks, going to their bench early and often, got seven points apiece from Vladimir Radmanovic and Jannero Pargo in the first half. Diaw, who had a huge game in an upset of the Knicks on Wednesday, was quiet against the Hawks, hitting just 4 of 10 from the field. The Hawks play their third game in three nights Saturday night against Chicago.