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Williams helps Hawks down lowly Sonics

Jan 26, 2008 - 7:39 AM By Paul Lowenberg PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Marvin Williams scored a career-high 33 points as the Atlanta Hawks sent the Seattle SuperSonics to their franchise-record 13th straight loss with a 99-90 victory on Friday night.

Josh Smith scored 14 points and rookie Al Horford added 10 and 16 rebounds for the Hawks, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Atlanta, which had lost eight straight against Seattle, avenged a 126-123 double-overtime loss to the Sonics when the teams met in November.

"We remembered it, no question," Williams said. "They were able to sneak a win from us, so we really wanted to focus and get that win back."

Rookie Kevin Durant won that game with a dramatic 3-pointer at the buzzer in the second overtime, but this time he was held to just 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting from the field.

"I had some great looks," Durant said. "That's what frustrates me the most, wide-open jump shots. You need to keep shooting and keep being aggressive. That's what I did."

Seattle trailed nearly the entire game as Atlanta went ahead to stay on a 19-foot jumper by Williams just three minutes into the opening period.

The ice-cold Sonics managed just 14 points on 7-of-23 shooting in the first quarter and their woes continued in the second, entering halftime with a season-low 31 points in the first half while hitting just 14-of-46 shots from the field.

"Some nights you make shots and some nights you don't," Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "Guys were getting good shots, but when good shots don't go in you have to do something else. You may pass up a good shot to get a better shot, or take the ball to the rim. We were getting no stops at all, so there was no transition."

Williams, a native of nearby Bremerton, Washington, scored 16 points in the first half as the Hawks took a 52-31 lead into the locker room.

"I would have to say it was a career game for me," Williams said. "We had some slippage in the third quarter and a little bit towards the fourth quarter, but we got it back together and kept our composure, which is big for us."

"When you go through this league and you have the opportunity to go to your hometown and play in front of your family and friends, it's special," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "If you can put on a show like (Williams) did, it makes it even more special. He was spectacular."

After outscoring the Hawks by two in the third, the Sonics made a brief run at the start of the fourth quarter.

Johan Petro's slam dunk and foul shot narrowed Atlanta's lead to 81-67 with just over nine minutes remaining before Damien Wilkins hit a short running hook to cut the deficit to 12 points with 8:50 left.

The Hawks scored just 21 points in the fourth quarter, but the Sonics didn't mount enough offense in the period and failed to overcome a 78-59 deficit entering the final period.

Seattle shot just 41 percent from the field and failed to hit a single 3-pointer, finishing the contest 0-of-11 from the arc.

"We've just got to stay together as a team," Sonics forward Chris Wilcox said about the long losing streak. "When guys get down, we need to pick them up. It starts in this locker room."