Record-setting performance paces Atlanta Hawks past Sacramento Kings, 130-105 (3/9/15)

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

In a record-setting performance, the Atlanta Hawks dominated the Sacramento Kings in a 130-105 home victory on Monday night. The Hawks have now won seven of their last eight contests.

Atlanta (50-13) hit a franchise-record 20 three-pointer attempts, dished out a NBA season-high 42 assists and the 130 points scored were a season-high as well.

“I think it’s a night were we were fortunate and made a lot of shot,” Hawks’ head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “The ball movement was good. We were able to get a rhythm going offensively.”

Six Hawks (50-13) scored in double figures in the victory led by 20 points each from Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll. Jeff Teague dished off a game-high 13 points in addition to scoring 18 points. Other double-figure scorers for Atlanta were Al Horford (18 points), Paul Millsap (13 points) and Dennis Schroder (12 points) off the bench.

“We’re just unselfish,” Carroll said. “We don’t care who scores…this is a high-character team.”

Rudy Gay scored a game-high 23 points for Sacramento (21-41) while DeMarcus Cousins grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and scored 12 points. The Kings have now dropped their last four contests and six of their last seven.

“I thought our guys worked really hard to make his catches tough,” Budenholzer said of defending Cousins. “(We) showed him some different looks and our team did a great job of guarding him,” Horford added.

Atlanta used an 11-2 run to close out the first quarter and took a 33-20 lead into the second quarter. The Hawks shot 56 percent from the field in the first quarter and made seven three-pointers. Carroll had 13 points in the first quarter for Atlanta while Korver had nine.

Sacramento shot 39 percent in the first quarter and Cousins went scoreless on three shot attempts.

Atlanta continued the offensive domination, scoring a season-high 43 second-quarter points to take a 76-54 lead into the locker room. The 76 points were a season-high for a first half for the Hawks. Carroll scored game-high 20 points in the first half while Korver, Teague and Horford were also in double-figures scoring. Overall, the Hawks shot 63 percent from the field in the first half and made 12 three-pointers.

Sacramento shot 47 percent in the first half and only made three out of 11 three-pointers. Gay scored a team-high 14 first-half points for the Kings.

The Hawks led 105-82 heading into the fourth quarter. A Korver three-pointer late in the third quarter gave Atlanta 17 for the game as a team, surpassing the season-high with a quarter to go.