ATLANTA — Joe Johnson scored 31 points and Josh Smith had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help Atlanta end Utah’s 12-game winning streak with a 100-93 victory Wednesday night.
After Mehmet Okur’s 20-footer gave Utah an 87-85 lead with 5:02 to go, the Jazz failed to score a field goal.
“No, we didn’t run out of gas,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “We didn’t come with gas early.”
The Hawks led until Okur’s straightaway 3-pointer put Utah up 62-60 at the 4:44 mark of the third quarter.
“This shows everybody in the world the Hawks are for real,” Smith said. “They have to take the Hawks seriously. Utah is an outstanding team. We played the best in the West and were able to beat them.”
Flip Murray scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks. Smith ended the scoring with two free throws with 24.3 seconds left.
“We got a little complacent at the end of the game,” Jazz guard Deron Williams said. “We had stretches where we played well and where we played bad throughout the game. They got a lot of transition baskets at the end of the game, and that got the crowd into it.”
