Horford, Smith lead Hawks past Nuggets 108-104

Al Horford turned in his third consecutive double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds, and the Hawks broke a 101-all tie in the final minute on the way to a 108-104 win Wednesday over the visiting Nuggets.

Atlanta snapped a four-game losing streak to Denver dating back to Nov. 7, 2009, as Josh Smith added 16 points and 13 rebounds on his 27th birthday and the Hawks (10-5) beat the Nuggets (9-10) at their own game despite a brilliant night by Denver point guard Ty Lawson.

He had a season-high 32 points, hit all five of his 3-pointers and added seven assists and five steals, yet the Hawks beat the Nuggets in key metrics.

Denver entered the game No. 1 in the NBA in offensive rebounding (15.4 per game), No. 1 in second-chance points (18.4 pg) and No. 1 in points in the paint (53.7 pg), but Atlanta won all three categories.

The Hawks had 19 offensive caroms to Denver's 11, out-scored the Nuggets 20-19 on second chances, and carried the paint 56-50.

Atlanta coach Larry Drew started a small lineup, but frequently deployed three bigs at a time and they helped limit Denver forward Kenneth Faried to three offensive boards. Atlanta out-rebounded the Nuggets -- the NBA's No. 2 overall rebounding team -- 47-40.

Denver starters other than Lawson, who was 12-for-16 from the field, shot just 30.3 percent as leading scorerAndre Iguodala scored five points on 2-for-10, Faried was 2-for-8 and Danilo Gallinari was 3-for-10. Corey Brewer scored 19 off the bench.

On the plus side, Denver center Timofey Mozgov grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in his first start of the season. Kosta Koufos missed the game with flu-like symptoms.

Atlanta's bench was big as center Zaza Pachulia had all 11 of his points and all six of his rebounds in the first half to help the Hawks to a 55-51 lead.

Guard Lou Williams played 20 minutes off the bench in the second half, when he scored 11 of his 16 and registered four of his six assists for the Hawks.