Bazemore hits winning shot, Hawks beat Pelicans 94-93
ATLANTA (AP) - Kent Bazemore hit a jumper with 2.1 seconds remaining and the Hawks rallied from 19 points down to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 94-93 Wednesday before a sparse crowd on an icy night in Atlanta.
With the score tied at 92, DeMarcus Cousins drew a blocking foul on John Collins with 13.7 seconds remaining, earning a trip to the foul line. Cousins made only one, giving the Hawks a chance to pull out the victory.
Bazemore knocked down the winning shot with Anthony Davis in his face. New Orleans had one last chance, inbounding the ball to Cousins near the hoop. He came up short on a quick shot, pleading with the officials for a foul call while the Hawks celebrated.
Bazemore led the Hawks with 20 points, while rookie John Collins added 18. Jrue Holiday paced the Pelicans with 22 points, while Cousins had 19 points and 14 rebounds. But Davis was held to just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Coming off a victory over San Antonio, the Hawks won back-to-back games for only the second time this season and snapped the Pelicans' three-game winning streak.
The Hawks started quickly, knocking down four of their first six shots - including a couple of 3-pointers - but it was all Pelicans the rest of the first half. The Hawks missed seven straight shots during two different stretches in the first quarter and endured another long drought at the beginning of the second period, going nearly 5 minutes without a field goal.
New Orleans ripped off 12 straight points to erase Atlanta's early edge and pushed ahead twice by as many as 19 before settling for a 60-45 lead at the break.
The Hawks wiped out that big deficit by the end of the third quarter.
The Pelicans made only 3 of 18 shots in a 10-point period, allowing Atlanta to grab a 71-70 lead heading to the fourth.
The game was played after a winter storm moved through Atlanta, leading most schools and businesses to shut down for the day because of treacherous roads. The upper deck wasn't even used, allowing everyone in the estimated turnout of around 5,000 to watch the contest from the lower level.
The announced attendance was 10,894, the smallest crowd of the season at Philips Arena.
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Davis, coming off a 45-point effort in a win at Boston, and was held to single figures for only the second time this season. ... New Orleans had a season-low 33 points in the second half, missing their first eight shots after the break.
Hawks: C Dewayne Dedmon fouled out with 4:48 remaining after playing 20 minutes off the bench. He had 10 rebounds. ... F Luke Babbitt, who was on the inactive list, hasn't played in five straight games. In fact, he's gotten in only two of the last 13 games - scoring five points in just over 13 minutes of playing time - after making nine starts early in the season. ... The Hawks came into the night ranked last in the league with an average attendance 14,239 - more than 1,300 less per game than the next-lowest team, the Indiana Pacers.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: Return home Saturday to face the Memphis Grizzlies.
Hawks: Continue a six-game homestand by hosting the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
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