ATLANTA — When Josh Smith took the challenge of defending DeMarcus Cousins, the Atlanta Hawks finally took control against the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

Smith, who remained in Atlanta after being discussed in talks leading up to Thursday's trade deadline, came through with his defense one day later.

Al Horford led Atlanta's balanced scoring with 24 points and the Hawks beat Sacramento 122-108.

Jeff Teague had 20 points and 12 assists, and Smith added 18 points for Atlanta.

Smith also had six rebounds and four assists, but coach Larry Drew talked about the decision made by the 6-foot-9 power forward to defend the 6-foot-11, 270-pound Cousins, the Kings' high-scoring center.

Cousins had 26 points and 13 rebounds, but just four points in the final quarter.

Isaiah Thomas scored 30 points with nine assists to lead the Kings, who have lost four straight and eight of 10.

"We went away from what worked," Cousins said. "We have a tendency to do that every game. I mean, if you haven't learned yet, you ain't trying to learn."

SACRAMENTO		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Salmons	26:49	3-8	0-0	0-1	2	1	8
Thompson	30:02	3-9	3-4	2-10	0	5	9
Cousins	37:05	11-22	3-6	5-13	2	4	26
Thomas	37:16	9-18	8-9	2-6	9	2	30
Evans	39:04	5-14	4-4	2-8	6	2	15
Thornton	20:54	3-6	0-0	0-2	0	1	8
Hayes	17:45	0-1	0-0	3-5	1	2	0
Outlaw	16:40	3-7	2-2	0-1	0	0	9
JJohnson	6:51	0-2	0-0	0-0	2	1	0
Fredette	7:34	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	0	3
Totals		38-88	20-25	14-46	24	18	108

Percentages: FG .432, FT .800. Three-point goals: 12-22, .545 (Thomas 4-6, Salmons 2-4, Thornton 2-5, Cousins 1-1, Fredette 1-1, Outlaw 1-2, Evans 1-3). Team rebounds: 9. Team turnovers: 16 (24 PTS). Blocked shots: 2 (Thompson 2). Turnovers: 15 (Cousins 4, Thomas 3, Evans 2, Fredette 2, Thompson 2, Outlaw, Thornton). Steals: 3 (Cousins 3).

ATLANTA		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Smith	35:46	8-12	2-2	1-6	4	3	18
Horford	33:58	11-14	2-4	0-8	6	4	24
Pachulia	14:28	2-6	0-0	3-7	0	5	4
Teague	32:35	8-18	3-3	0-4	12	3	20
Stevenson	33:51	5-6	2-2	0-2	1	1	17
Korver	31:39	4-11	0-0	0-5	3	1	10
Harris	12:58	3-5	2-2	0-2	2	2	10
IJohnson	7:59	1-3	0-4	0-2	3	1	2
Jenkins	9:31	2-3	1-2	0-0	1	1	6
Tolliver	18:06	3-6	0-0	1-2	1	2	7
Petro	4:15	0-5	0-0	3-4	0	2	0
Jones	2:27	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Scott	2:27	2-3	0-0	2-3	0	0	4
Totals		49-92	12-19	10-45	33	25	122

Percentages: FG .533, FT .632. Three-point goals: 12-27, .444 (Stevenson 5-6, Harris 2-2, Korver 2-7, Jenkins 1-2, Tolliver 1-3, Teague 1-5, I.Johnson 0-1, Smith 0-1). Team rebounds: 5. Team turnovers: 6 (3 PTS). Blocked shots: 9 (Teague 3, Tolliver 3, Horford 2, Smith). Turnovers: 6 (Teague 2, I.Johnson, Pachulia, Smith, Stevenson). Steals: 7 (Teague 3, I.Johnson, Korver, Pachulia, Stevenson).

Sacramento	33	30	25	20 — 108
Atlanta	25	36	32	29 — 122

Attendance: 15,031 (18,729). Time: 2:14. Officials: Ed Malloy, Matt Boland, Zach Zarba.