All-Star Joe Johnson had a chance to rest thanks to a
tremendous snow storm that buried the East Coast, and will lead the Atlanta
Hawks against the Memphis Grizzlies tonight at FedEx Forum.
Saturday's tilt between the Hawks and Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center
was canceled because of inclement weather and rescheduled for March 11.
Johnson leads the team in points (21.9 ppg) and assists (4.7 apg), and is
averaging 27.7 points per game over his last six outings for the Hawks, who
have won two straight and nine of their last 13 games. Atlanta is 1 1/2 games
behind Orlando for the top spot in the Southeast Division, and will try to put
the brakes on a three-game road losing streak. It is 11-12 away from Philips
Arena this season.
Johnson had 18 points in Atlanta's most recent win, a 91-81 triumph versus the
Chicago Bulls on Friday. Josh Smith recorded his second career triple-double
with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Grizzlies, meanwhile, hope to snap a three-game losing streak tonight and
are coming off a 109-102 loss at Minnesota on Saturday.
Rudy Gay scored a game-high 27 points to go with eight boards for the
Grizzlies, who have lost five of six games overall. Zach Randolph had 14
points and 13 boards, while O.J. Mayo had 16 points in defeat.
"Every game is different. They beat us tonight. It's not because we can't hold
leads or we don't match up, they just beat us," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins
said. "They executed down the stretch, and they deserve to win. we did not
deserve to win."
Marc Gasol provided 15 points and eight rebounds for Memphis, which is 2 1/2
games off the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
Atlanta defeated Memphis, 110-97, on December 16 this season at Philips Arena
and has won six of the previous seven matchups in this series. The Hawks have
dropped seven of their last 10 trips to FedEx Forum.
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