Atlanta Hawks fly high, soar past Denver Nuggets

November 7, 9:34 PMAtlanta Hawks ExaminerAndrew Vickers

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Atlanta's Josh Smith (5) drives by Denver's Renaldo Balkman for the layup.
(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

After a four game road trip in which they went just 2-2, the Hawks were back home in Atlanta Saturday night to face a dangerous Denver Nuggets team.

Coming off a disappointing loss in Charlotte Friday night, Atlanta would come out of the gate with much more energy.

Carmelo Anthony would score first for the Nuggets on an easy dunk from a Nene assist, but after that nothing would be easy for the Denver squad.

Melo would have a strong first quarter performance, putting in 12 points, but the Hawks would shoot 68% from the floor for the quarter and come out on top in the first 33 to 25.

Atlanta wouldn't slow down from there, coming out in the second quarter on a 7-0 run and pushing their early lead to 15.

But the Nuggets would gradually cut into that deficit, getting it down to 10 and going into the half trailing by a score of 60-50.

The Atlanta Hawks' bench outscored Denver's 26 to 6 in the first half.

The start of the third quarter would mirror the second, the Hawks coming out of the locker room on a 10-0 run, going up by 20, and putting this one away early.

Atlanta would win the game in dominating fashion by a final score of 125 to 100.

Josh Smith lead the charge for the Hawks, having an all-around game with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 blocks.

Jamal Crawford once again had a solid night off the bench for Atlanta, with 25 points, 4 boards and 4 dimes.

Joe Johnson also scored in the 20's for the Hawks, putting in 22 points with 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Carmelo Anthony, who entered the game second in the NBA in scoring behind Kobe Bryant, would lead all scorers in the game with 30 points. He also had 6 boards, 3 steals and 2 assists.

Chauncey Billups added 27 points and 7 assists for Denver.

The Hawks and Nuggets both come out of Saturday night's contest with a 5-2 record. Atlanta is off to a perfect 3-0 start at home.

Atlanta will next travel to New York to face the struggling Knicks Wednesday night (11/11) 7:30 PM ET.

Game notes: Josh Smith had season highs in points, rebounds, and blocks...Al Horford had his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points, 12 boards... 57 fouls were called in the contest.