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Hawks edge Bobcats in OT

Dec 29, 2013 - 5:00 AM Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Paul Millsap poured in a season-high 33 points with 13 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Charlotte Bobcats for a 10th straight time with a 118-116 overtime win.

Playing for the first time without Al Horford, who will likely miss the remainder of the regular season with a torn right pectoral muscle, the Hawks came back from as many as 14 in the second half to force overtime and continue their dominance over their division foe.

Lou Williams also scored a season-high with 28 points off the bench, including 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the extra session, and Jeff Teague netted 20 points with nine assists for the Hawks.

Mike Scott added 18 points off the pine for Atlanta, which played in its third consecutive overtime contest.

"I'm just proud of our guys," said Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer "Our guys found a way to win a game tonight. We feel fortunate but we're also proud."

Al Jefferson had a monster outing for Charlotte with 24 points and 23 rebounds and Gerald Henderson added 22 points.

Kemba Walker finished with 16 points and five assists for the Bobcats, who have lost three of their last four tilts.

With the score tied at 96, Walker drove the lane and missed a layup, but Jefferson was there for his 20th rebound to clean up with a big putback layup with 34 seconds left in regulation.

Teague then missed a jumper and Walker made 1-of-2 at the line with under 20 seconds remaining in the fourth to make it a 99-96 game.

Atlanta traded a two-pointer from Millsap with a pair of free throws from Walker when Pero Antic pump-faked and made a one-footed running 3 from the corner to tie the game at 101.

Henderson's pullup jumper from the top of the key as time expired didn't go and the game went to overtime.

After Henderson opened the extra session with a jumper, Scott buried a triple for a 104-103 margin. Henderson then made a nice back-door cut and McRoberts found him for an easy dunk.

Teague tied the game at 106 with a driving layup with 1:54 to go in OT, but Jefferson cleaned up another Walker miss at the other end for a 108-106 lead. Millsap tied the game with a pair of free throws less than a minute later and Williams added a two at the line to push Atlanta ahead, 110-108, with 32.1 seconds left.

Walker missed a jumper when Williams gathered the rebound and hit both free throws to make it a four-point game, 112-108.

Anthony Tolliver's last ditch effort was off the mark and Williams hit another pair at the charity stripe to seal the win.

The Hawks led 25-22 after one quarter of play but a 17-3 run from Charlotte in the second gave the visitors a 45-35 lead with over four minutes left until halftime.

Teague halted the momentum with a triple at the 3:24 mark of the quarter and the Hawks closed to within five, 50-45, at the break.

The Bobcats led by as many as 14 in the third, but Williams hit a 3 from the wing in transition with 3.2 seconds left to cut the deficit to 77-71 heading to the fourth.

"We got a nice lead in the third but we knew they were going to make a run like all teams do at home," said Jefferson.

Game Notes

Atlanta was 28-for-32 (82.4 percent) from the free throw line ... Tolliver scored 12 points and Ben Gordon tallied 15 points off the bench for Charlotte ... There were 10 ties and 10 lead changes in the contest ... The Hawks converted on 16-of-39 (41 percent) from deep.