Hawks 85 - 96 Hornets
Final
  for this game

Stumbling Hawks try to right the ship in Charlotte

Apr 13, 2011 - 3:03 PM (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Hawks are headed to the postseason for a fourth straight year, but haven't been competing at a playoff-caliber level lately with five straight losses.

The fifth-seeded Hawks look to break out of their funk tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats from Time Warner Cable Arena. The losing trend continued with Monday's 98-90 loss versus the Miami Heat, as LeBron James led the charge with 34 points and 10 rebounds.

Hawks star Josh Smith, who missed the last three games with a knee issue, returned to score a team-high 17 points. Jamal Crawford had 13 points off the bench, while Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson ended with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Atlanta. Jeff Teague added 10 points in a reserve role.

"Regardless of what had happened, I really wanted to see how well our reserves would respond after cutting into the lead," said Hawks head coach Larry Drew.

Drew's team has dropped three in a row on the road and is 20-20 as the visitor this season. Center Jason Collins (ankle) has missed three straight and five of six games and is listed as questionable for Wednesday.

Charlotte missed out on a chance to make the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history and will wrap up the 2010-11 campaign versus its Southeast Division rivals.

The Bobcats ended a six-game losing streak with Monday's 105-103 victory in New Jersey thanks to D.J. Augustin's fadeaway jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining in the game. Augustin had 19 points and 11 assists for Charlotte, which got a team-best 21 points from Dante Cunningham.

"We never quit. We're getting confidence and we're learning," Bobcats head coach Paul Silas said.

Boris Diaw had 20 points and Gerald Henderson posted 14 in the win.

Charlotte is winless in three straight home games and owns a 20-20 record as the host in 2010-11. Bobcats leading scorer Stephen Jackson is not expected to play tonight because of an injured hamstring and has missed all seven games so far this month. He posted 18.5 ppg game this season.

Atlanta has won two of three meetings with Charlotte this season, but is only 3-10 in the past 13 contests at the Bobcats.






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