Marvin Williams scored a season-high 29 points, but it was Smith, who spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench because of foul trouble, who came through at the end.
Carl Landry hit a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left to cap Houston's 11-1 run that tied the game at 103. The Hawks got the ball to Mike Bibby, whose jumper bounced off the rim. But Smith flew right down the middle of the lane and softly laid it in with both hands while the Rockets screamed for basket interference.
Replays showed the ball had cleared the rim before Smith touched it.
Williams had been one of the few disappointments in Atlanta's brilliant start to the season. He had not scored more than 14 points in a game, but he had 13 in the opening quarter and passed his previous high before halftime. He finished 13 of 19 from the field.
The Hawks needed Williams to come up big with Smith in foul trouble he had only nine points in less than 24 minutes and Joe Johnson held to 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting after two straight 30-point efforts.
Jamal Crawford added 21 points for the Hawks, while Landry led five Houston players in double figures with 18.
The Hawks improved to 7-0 at Philips Arena, their best start at home since 1997, and snapped the Rockets' two-game winning streak on the road.
Houston outworked the Hawks on the boards much of the night and had a 29-14 edge in second-chance points, which kept the Rockets in the game all the way. They led 88-82 with 7 minutes remaining after Aaron Brooks blew right by Johnson for a layup.
Atlanta took over from there, turning up the defensive pressure and ripping off a 13-0 spurt. Brooks finally broke up the run, but Williams had a thunderous jam off a missed shot, a steal set up another dunk by Al Horford and Crawford's falling-down 3-pointer pushed the home team to a 102-92 lead with 2:07 remaining.
It seemed over, but the pesky Rockets battled back. Kyle Lowry exploded to the hoop, banked it in and was fouled by Williams. The free throw completed the three-point play and pulled Houston to 103-101.
Bibby missed a 3-pointer, Houston called time and got the ball in Brooks' hands. He passed off to Luis Scola, who fumbled it away but watched as it went straight to Landry, who drew Horford's sixth foul and calmly made both free throws sandwiched around a Hawks' 20-second timeout.
But Smith made sure Atlanta stayed perfect at home.
NOTES: In the second quarter, Houston's Trevor Ariza and Johnson scrambled for a loose ball that wound up bouncing out of bounds along the sideline, not far from the Hawks bench. While the officials briefly conferred to make a call, Ariza pleaded, ``I swear to God I didn't touch it.'' The Rockets got the ball. ... Houston dropped to 4-4 on the road.
Al Horford
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/11/224909