The Atlanta Hawks (2 - 1) were able to pull out a 97 - 94 home victory over the Charlotte Hornets (0 - 2) on Friday. After a tight first half, the Hawks were able to claim a 14 - point lead with under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but a run of nine unanswered points by the Hornets resulted in an outcome that was too close for comfort. Still, Atlanta was able to make enough stops down the stretch to deny the late rally, as Kemba Walker missed the game - tying attempt from 25 feet to give Atlanta the victory. Though he only scored a combined five points in the team’s first two games, Kent Bazemore was the Hawks’ surprising scoring leader Friday, pouring in 19 points on 7 - for - 13 shooting, including a 4 - for - 5 mark from three - point range. He also tacked on nine rebounds for good measure, a total that was only second to Paul Millsap’s 10 boards for the team lead. Millsap also accrued 18 points, while Al Horford (18), Jeff Teague (14), and Dennis Schroder (14) rounded out the double - digit scorers. Schroder made his first start of the season while Kyle Korver was rested for maintenance purposes in the second game of a back - to - back set. The winless Hornets were foiled by their top two offensive threats suffering from poor shooting nights. Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker both shot 5 - for - 15 from the field to combine for just 23 points between them, while no other scorer on the team exceeded 14 points. Charlotte was at least able to win the battle of the boards, 54 - 45, thanks to double - digit rebound efforts from Marvin Williams (12), Nicolas Batum (11), and Jefferson (11). The two teams will get together for a rematch Sunday, with that game to take place in Atlanta.
["TeamStat(G,'Hawks') has 1 Losses ,has 97 Total points ,has 45 Rebounds ,has 2 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Hornets') has 2 Losses ,has 94 Total points ,has 54 Rebounds ,has 0 Wins ."]