The Atlanta Hawks used an extra session to defeat the Charlotte Hornets 117-114 Monday evening at the Philips Arena. The Hawks have now improved to a 3-3 record, while the Hornets fall to 3-4.

Despite shooting 37 percent in the first quarter, the Hornets found themselves in a tie game against the Hawks at the end of the period. The Hawks, on the other hand, were shooting a sizzling 58.8 percent.

The Hawks continued to fire away in the second quarter as they opened the period on a 16-0 to build a 40-24 lead. The Hawks bench torched the Hornets bench during the quarter, led by Dennis Schroder’s 7 points. Atlanta finished the half up by 15.

The third period was a different story. The Hawks cooled down considerably as they dropped down to nearly 46 percent, and the Hornets were able to crawl all the way back into this one to tie the game at 77 with under a minute to go in the quarter. Though, the Hawks entered the fourth quarter up 82-77.

The fourth quarter turned into an intense battle between the two teams. However, the Hawks gained an eight-point lead more than halfway through the quarter but were unable to hold on. The Hornets came back and narrowed the gap to one with 39 seconds left, and they had possession of the ball.

Five seconds into the play, Gary Neal missed a 7-foot shot, but Cody Zeller, who a fantastic game with 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, grabbed the offensive rebound and later in the possession, he was fouled and had the chance to put the Hornets up by one with both costless throws. Unfortunately for Charlotte, Zeller only made one costless throw to tie the game at 104 and with 14 seconds left in the game, the Hawks called a timeout. Their final play of regulation was a missed three-point attempt by DeMarre Carroll.

In overtime, there was a lot of back-and-forth action. Every time Atlanta took a two-point lead, Charlotte answered back to tie it. Going down to the wire, P.J. Hairston missed a potential game-tying three pointer, giving the Hawks a 117-114 victory.

The Hornets rested Al Jefferson in this one, but rookie Noah Vonleh returned from a sports hernia injury to score four points in 19 minutes of play off the bench.  Gary Neal was outstanding as he put in 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. He started in place of Lance Stephenson who was held out due to a sore groin. Kemba Walker filled up the stats sheet with 17 points, eight assists, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 28 minutes.

The Hawks had six players score in double digits led by Paul Millsap with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks. Kyle Korver dropped 17 points, Mike Scott with 16 off the bench, and Thabo Sefolosha and Schroder each had 12. Al Horford played in his fourth game back from injury and put in 10 points and six rebounds.

Despite out-rebounding the Hawks 52-40, the Hornets turned the ball over 20 times, which were extremely costly in a closely played match.

Both teams have one more preseason game remaining before the start of the real thing. The Hornets will play the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, October 23, while the Hawks travel to the AT&T Center to battle the defending champions San Antonio Spurs on October 22.

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About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.