Hawks 82 - 96 Clippers
Final
  for this game

Williams leads Clippers past Hawks

Mar 15, 2012 - 5:48 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Mo Williams scored 25 points and the Clippers defeated the Hawks, 96-82, on Wednesday.

Eric Bledsoe added a season-high 14 points, Caron Butler had 13 and Blake Griffin finished with 12 and 10 rebounds for the Clippers. They had dropped two straight and eight of 12 coming in.

"A good solid win," said Los Angeles coach Vinny Del Negro. "We were better in a lot of areas. We contested shots, we put a lot of pressure on them."

Joe Johnson scored 19 points and Josh Smith had 18 for the Hawks, who have lost four of their last five.

Although the Clippers never trailed on Wednesday, they didn't decisively put the Hawks away until the fourth quarter.

It was 30-27 after one, as Williams, Randy Foye and Chris Paul all scored five points in the frame. Williams continued to pace LA in the second, scoring six points, as the advantage grew to as many as 11 before settling at eight, 50-42, at the break.

Butler scored seven in the third, as the Clippers methodically stretched the margin to nine, 71-62, by the end of the quarter.

The Hawks cut their deficit to six, 78-72, on a Tracy McGrady three-pointer early in the final frame. But Williams answered with a trey before Bledsoe came up with a steal, which resulted in a Reggie Evans' put back layup and an 83-72 lead.

Another three from Williams made it 96-80 in the closing minutes, marking the Clippers' largest lead of the game.

"I take my hat off to my guys," said Atlanta coach Larry Drew, whose team completed a 2-4 road trip. "We just tried to stay in the game and be competitive. We just ran out of gas."

Game Notes

The Clippers snapped a three-game home losing streak...The Hawks had won four straight, including three in a row as the visitor, against the Clippers entering Wednesday.






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