Hawks 111, Bobcats 81

ATLANTA — Before the Atlanta Hawks took the court, Joe Johnson whispered a message to teammates Josh Smith and Jeff Teague.

“We have to take ownership,” Johnson said, “at both ends of the court.”

Clearly, they were listening.

Smith scored 30 points, Johnson added 23 and Teague chipped in with 16, leading the Hawks to a 111-81 rout of the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday night in Atlanta’s first game without All-Star center Al Horford.

The Hawks learned earlier in the day that Horford, a leader on and off the court, will miss at least three months after tearing the pectoral muscle in his left shoulder going for a rebound the previous night at Indiana. That ensures he will miss nearly all the remaining regular-season games and perhaps be out into the playoffs — if Atlanta makes it that far.

“That was very disappointing news,” Smith said. “I actually heard it on the radio on the way to the game. It’s real devastating.”

But the Hawks must carry on, and they’ll be relying heavily on Smith and Johnson. Both came through big time against the hapless Bobcats, who lost their fifth in a row and dropped to 2-9.

“We all understand that we have to step our games up in some respect,” Johnson said. “It was a great team effort, collectively, around the room.”

Byron Mullens led the Bobcats with 21 points in his first career start.

Bucks 102, Pistons 93

MILWAUKEE — Brandon Jennings scored 27 points and Stephen Jackson had 25 to help Milwaukee beat Detroit. The Bucks improved to 4-0 at home and 4-6 overall, while the Pistons dropped to 2-9 with their sixth straight loss and fifth in a row on the road. Detroit last lost six straight from March 13-April 3, 2010. Bucks coach Scott Skiles became the 39th coach in NBA history to reach 400 victories. He is 400-388. Greg Monroe led the Pistons with a career-high 32 points and had 16 rebounds.

Cavaliers 101, Suns 90

PHOENIX — Prize rookie Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 26 points and Antawn Jamison matched his season high with 23, helping Cleveland beat Phoenix. Steve Nash led six Suns players in double figures with 16 points, becoming the 15th active player to reach 16,000 points. He also had 15 assists.

The inability to get stops has been the Charlotte Bobcats’ biggest weakness
this season.

The Detroit Pistons’ woes stem from an inept offense.

In a meeting of two of the league’s worst teams, the Bobcats and Pistons
each seem to have a decent chance of fixing their primary problems Friday night
in Charlotte.

The Bobcats (2-9) opened a back-to-back-to-back stretch Thursday with a
111-81 loss to Atlanta, their fifth straight defeat. The Hawks were playing
without All-Star center Al Horford, but that didn’t seem to make a difference as
Charlotte was outrebounded 55-30 and outscored 52-38 in the paint.

“We’re just kind of giving up now,” coach Paul Silas said. “We have to
learn from our losses. It doesn’t seem as if that’s happening. We just have to
turn things around.”

Allowing a league-worst 102.7 points, the Bobcats are seemingly letting
opponents do as they please.

Charlotte could have better luck defensively against the Pistons, who are
averaging 83.7 points – barely edging Washington’s league-worst 83.6. Then
again, Detroit could be the team finding its offensive stride against the
vulnerable Charlotte defense.

The Pistons (2-9) are also coming off an offensive eruption by their own
meager standards. Detroit reached the 90-point mark for just the second time
this season Thursday at Milwaukee, but it wasn’t enough as it fell 102-93 for
its sixth straight loss.

“There are no consolation prizes, but there was a different spirit out
there, a different fight out there,” said coach Lawrence Frank, whose team
dropped to 0-5 on the road.

Greg Monroe led the way Thursday with a career-high 32 points and
season-best 16 rebounds. It was an encouraging performance for the second-year
center, who is averaging a team-best 16.4 points.

“I just took what they gave me,” Monroe said. “I was just able to knock
down some open jump shots and get to the rim. I was just reading how they were
playing me, trying to make plays and be patient.”

Charlotte also received a solid outing from its center Thursday. In his
first career start in his 37th game, Byron Mullens led the Bobcats with 21
points – 10.0 better than his season average coming in.

“That loss was too bad for me to keep my head up about how I played,”
Mullens said.

That was about the only positive for the Bobcats, as the rest of their
starters combined for 33 points. D.J. Augustin, Charlotte’s leading scorer with
15.4 points per game, was held to eight though he also had eight assists.

The Pistons managed a split of last season’s four-game series despite
Charlotte shooting better than 50 percent in each meeting.

The struggling Charlotte Bobcats haven’t played many close games in the new
year, though one of those tight contests came against the Atlanta Hawks less
than a week ago.

They still couldn’t earn a victory, which have been few and far between for
the Bobcats this season.

Atlanta looks to beat Charlotte for the eighth time in the last nine
matchups at Philips Arena when the teams meet Thursday night.

The Bobcats (2-8) have been beaten by at least 12 points four times in their
seven games since Jan. 1, including an 82-70 loss to Houston on Tuesday. It
marked their fewest points in a home game since a 93-62 loss to Boston on Dec.
11, 2010.

“I thought we were tired and couldn’t really do anything, couldn’t execute,
couldn’t run, couldn’t defend,” coach Paul Silas said after his team’s fourth
game in five nights..

D.J. Augustin went 4 for 13 and had 11 points, while Boris Diaw scored four
points and finished 2 for 13.

“It’s just one of those nights. Even layups. We had shots right at the hoop
but we couldn’t convert,” Silas said. “We just didn’t have it. We played a tough
game Monday night (in New York), and then to come back and have to play, that’s
rough. It’s rough.”

It wasn’t the first time Silas mentioned fatigue as a reason for the
Bobcats’ struggles, and it’s what kept Tyrus Thomas from playing Tuesday. It’s
unclear if Thomas will return for this matchup after being held out due to
fatigued legs while playing big minutes over the previous three contests.

Charlotte has lost eight of nine since beating Milwaukee in its season
opener Dec. 26, with the only win coming at New York on Jan. 4. Two nights
later, the Bobcats overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit against Atlanta,
but eventually fell 102-96 in overtime.

Josh Smith had 23 points and 12 rebounds in that contest for the Hawks
(7-4), who had their three-game winning streak snapped with a 96-84 loss at
Indiana on Wednesday.

Smith scored a team-high 16 points, but Atlanta couldn’t overcome 18
turnovers and a nine-point third quarter after heading into the half down three.

“We did everything wrong,” coach Larry Drew said. “We turned the ball over,
we missed layups, we missed blockout assignments. Everything that could have
gone wrong went wrong in the third quarter. It seemed like we just hit a wall
after that.”

Atlanta shot only 37.5 percent after hitting 51.2 percent of its shots
during its winning streak.

The Hawks, though, were playing without two key players, and they may be
without another Thursday.

Marvin Williams did not travel with the team due to an ankle injury, and
Tracy McGrady was held out Wednesday because of back spasms. Al Horford then
suffered a sprained shoulder midway through the first quarter and did not
return.

Though initial X-rays came back negative, Horford will be evaluated again
before the morning shootaround to determine if he will play against Charlotte.

Atlanta had won seven straight home meetings against the Bobcats before an
88-86 loss Feb. 12. Augustin and Diaw went 2 for 11 with six combined in
Charlotte’s win, while Smith scored a team-high 28 in the defeat.