After losing to lowly Charlotte by 20 points Friday night, the Hawks came back the next night and paddled Denver, one of the elite teams of the Western Conference, by 25. The loss still hurt, but Atlanta has a more than respectable 5-2 record going into Wednesday's game against the New York Knicks.

"It's a good early season challenge to see how you bounce back from adverse situations," guard Jamal Crawford told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Right now, I think we're showing who we are."

Nevertheless, guard Joe Johnson still was alarmed by what happened in the Charlotte game.

"I think we still have a little bit of immaturity on this team," he told the newspaper. "And that's something we've got to look forward to working on. In no way possible should Charlotte beat us by 20, even though they were at home."

HAWKS 125, NUGGETS 100: The Hawks had seven players in double figures, led guard Jamal Crawford's 25 points, and were in control most of the way. Both teams were coming off losses the previous night, Atlanta at Charlotte and Denver at Miami.