SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Jason Terry handed the first loss of the season to his hometown team.
Terry had 23 points and nine rebounds and Shareef-Abdur Rahim collected 13 and 11 as the Atlanta Hawks rolled to a 91-81 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics, who were the last unbeaten team in the NBA.
Terry - a Seattle native - made 7-of-13 shots, including 4-of-7 3-pointers, as Atlanta won on the road for the first time in five tries this season.
"It feels good," he said. "We definitely needed it as a team to build our confidence and I think we found an identity for our team. I'm motivated every night we step on the floor but especially when you've got 75 family members plus in the stands."
The SuperSonics were averaging a league-leading 111.0 points in their first three games before struggling against the Hawks. They shot just 38 percent (33-of-87) overall and missed 17 of 18 3-pointers.
"We wanted to make sure we challenged their shots," Atlanta coach Terry Stotts said. "They are an explosive team, but they missed some shots. We challenged their jump shooters and didn't let them get any transition."
"You have nights where you are knocking down every shot and you have nights where you can't make one basket," Seattle forward Rashard Lewis said. "That's just part of the NBA. Tonight was our night."
Abdur-Rahim scored six points in the opening eight minutes as the Hawks jumped out to a 21-10 lead. Stephen Jackson scored seven of his 15 points in the first quarter as Atlanta had a 28-20 edge entering the second quarter.
The Hawks opened the second with a 13-4, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Terry. Rookie Boris Diaw capped the spurt with a jumper for a 41-24 cushion with 5:53 remaining and the Sonics did not get closer than 10 thereafter.
Dion Glover scored 13 points and Theo Ratliff collected 10, seven rebounds and four blocks for Atlanta, which shot 48 percent (34-of-71) from the floor and made 8-of-15 from 3-point range.
"We played hard and played together and that showed," Terry said. "We moved the ball around and made that extra pass and we started to make shots and it's high percentage when a guy gets an open look."
Ron Murray scored 24 points and Lewis added 16 and nine assists for Seattle, which managed a season-low 37 points in the first half and never recovered.
"We knew we couldn't go 82-0," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. "We know our strength is shooting the ball. We had some looks tonight the the guys knocked down the first three games and they didn't fall tonight."
Jackson made 3-of-6 3-pointers for Atlanta, including two in the third quarter. He buried a shot from beyond the arc 5:35 into the third to give the Hawks their largest lead at 69-45.
Seattle went on 10-2 run late in the third quarter to pull within 73-61 on a jumper by rookie Luke Ridnour, who scored 13 points. Murray scored 11 points in the fourth but the Sonics did not get closer than 11 until the final score.
