Hawks edge past leaders Oklahoma

Hawks scored a hard-fought 97-90 win over NBA-leading Oklahoma City in Atlanta on Saturday, snapping the Thunder’s seven-game winning streak.

Josh Smith scored 30 points with 12 rebounds for Atlanta, delivering the big game the Hawks needed as they coped with the absence of leading scorer Joe Johnson and reserve guard Willie Green.

"We were able to compete at a very high level against probably the best team in the league," said Atlanta coach Larry Drew, whose team also lost Tracy McGrady to a knee injury in the first quarter.

"I thought our guys did a phenomenal job and just competing given what the situation was. I take my hat off to every guy in the locker room."

Atlanta surrendered a double-digit lead late in the third quarter, but it opened the fourth with an 11-4 scoring run. "We didn’t get rattled," Smith said. "We tightened up the defense and we willed ourselves on the offensive end to make plays."

With less than five minutes to play the Hawks led 87-79, but the Thunder -- who came into the game with a league-leading 29-7 record -- pulled within one before the Hawks turned them back.

Smith drained a three-pointer with 2:01 to play to make it 92-88. With a minute left a Smith basket stretched Atlanta’s lead to 95-90.

Results: Atlanta bt Oklahoma City 97-90; Orlando bt Milwaukee 114-98; Washington bt Cleveland 101-98; Memphis bt Detroit 100-83; Indiana bt New Orleans 102-84; Dallas bt Utah 102-96; Minnesota bt Portland 122-110.