Oct 13, 2008 - 11:55 PM
0 shoutsBy PA SportsTicker
ATLANTA 88, CHARLOTTE 87 ------------------------
ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Al Horford and Acie Law IV came up big down the stretch for the Atlanta Hawks.
Law tallied the game winning layup in the game's final seconds and Horford blocked Gerald Wallace's shot as time expired to help the Hawks escape with an 88-87 win over the Charlotte Bobcats in the preseason opener at Philips Arena on Monday night.
Joe Johnson tallied 17 points and Josh Smith added 16 for Atlanta, which improved to 3-1 in the exhibition play.
Jason Richardson poured in 19 and Gerald Wallace added 12 for Charlotte, which remained winless in three preseason games.
Rookie D.J. Augustin scored 10 of his 11 points in the fourth for the Bobcats, including a layup with 1:22 remaining to give Charlotte an 87-85 lead. Horford split a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one with 27 seconds remaining before the Bobcats turned the ball over on a charge by Raymond Felton.
On the ensuing possession, Horford laid the pick and Law rolled right down the center of the lane past a pair of Bobcat defenders to the bucket for a finger-roll layup to give Atlanta an 88-87 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining.
Felton found Wallace on the next play, but Horford swatted away Wallace's offering and secured the rebound to give Atlanta the victory.
Charlotte led by as many as nine in the first half before taking a 46-39 advantage into the intermission behind 16 points from Jason Richardson. The Bobcats ruled the paint in the first two quarters, soaring over the Hawks by a 26-8 margin. But Atlanta clawed back into it in the third with an 11-3 spurt to start the quarter.
Atlanta played without starting point guard Mike Bibby (right oblique strain) and the oft-injured Speedy Claxton (pulled hamstring). Marvin Williams left the game at the break for precautionary reasons with a sprained left thumb. He finished with four points.
MEMPHIS 103, INDIANA 95 -----------------------
MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- O.J. Mayo finally found the outside shooting touch that had eluded him in his first three preseason games.
Mayo connected on six 3-pointers and scored 26 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Indiana Pacers, 103-95, in an exhibition matchup Monday at FedEx Forum.
The third overall pick in June's draft out of Southern California, Mayo finished 10-of-17 from the floor, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. The rookie guard had shot just 34.1 percent (14-of-41) from the field in Memphis' first three preseason games.
His final 3-pointer, with 29 seconds left in the third quarter, capped a 24-10 run, and helped give the Grizzlies an 84-69 advantage entering the fourth.
Memphis, which got 16 points from third-year forward Rudy Gay and a double-double from rookie center Marc Gasol with 14 points and 10 rebounds, would go on to lead by as many as 20 in the final quarter.
Indiana, led by point guard T.J. Ford's 18 points, held Memphis scoreless over the final 4:58 of the first quarter, outscoring the Grizzlies, 13-0, over that span to erase what had been a 21-10 first-quarter deficit.
The Pacers led by as many as seven points in the second quarter, as Ford and center Rasho Nesterovic combined to score 26 of the team's 53 first-half points.
Nesterovic finished with 12 for Indiana and rookie center Roy Hibbert added 17 and nine boards off the bench.
OKLAHOMA CITY 110, HOUSTON 104 ------------------------------
TULSA, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- Kevin Durant scored 26 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder registered their first win with a 110-104 triumph over the Houston Rockets in preseason action.
Durant dropped 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder used a 35-point final session to overcome a late deficit and record their first win since moving from Seattle in the offseason.
Oklahoma City converted 29-of-33 free throw attempts, including 10-of-11 from Durant.
Chris Wilcox totaled 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder, who also got 21 points off the bench from Nick Collison.
Yao Ming, who converted just four of his 10 field-goal attempts, but still managed to record a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Fellow All-Star Tracy McGrady did not play for the Rockets.
Houston got 20 points from backup point guard Aaron Brooks in 24 minutes and 16 points from second-year guard D.J. Strawberry.
Oklahoma City will make its home debut at the Ford Center on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
