ATLANTA (AP) — Hawks coach Larry Drew likes what he's seen lately from point guard Jeff Teague.
Teague had 22 points and a season-high 13 assists, Josh Smith added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Atlanta Hawks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 103-92 on Wednesday night.
"He got off to a really good start in that first half, which really set the tone for the game," Drew said about Teague. "You could see Memphis was laboring a little bit to get up and down. We were trying to put an emphasis on really pushing the basketball."
Al Horford finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the Hawks snap a two-game skid.
Zach Randolph scored 20 points and Mike Conley added 17 as the Grizzlies lost their second straight.
Atlanta played without No. 2 center Zaza Pachulia, veteran guard DeShawn Stevenson and swingman Anthony Morrow, but still held the Grizzlies to 26.3 percent shooting in the third quarter.
"I thought this was one of the better games we've played in a while," Hawks guard Kyle Korver said. "Energy was high. We had some bad turnovers on the break, but I thought we were out and running and playing aggressive."
Memphis missed its first 13 shots from the field in the third before Randolph hit a 22-footer at the 6:26 mark, but the Grizzlies trailed by 19 and never recovered.
Beginning the game with the NBA's stingiest defense, Memphis allowed the Hawks to shoot a season-high 62.2 percent in the first half.
Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said he appreciated the effort his reserves made in closing the gap in the fourth, but credited the Hawks' ability to frustrate Memphis' defense.
"They just did what they wanted with the pick-and-roll," Hollins said. "And then we helped, over-helped, and guys were left open all over the court."
Atlanta committed seven turnovers in the second quarter but still led 58-45 on Teague's layup in the closing seconds.
Jerryd Bayless finished with 15 points and Marc Gasol had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis.
"Seemed like we had no emotion in the game," Grizzlies guard Tony Allen said. "There was no griminess to it. There was no grittiness to it. Once they made plays, it was like we put our heads down."
The Hawks took their first double-digit lead at the 6:25 mark of the second when Teague's 3-pointer from the right corner made it 43-33.
Next Story
