Things are going from bad to worse for the Atlanta Hawks as they absorbed their fourth defeat in their last five games with a 117-109 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. The Hawks will look for a change in fortune later tonight when they lock horns with the Golden State Warriors in a mouth-watering showdown at Philips Arena.
Can the Hawks finally snap their two-game losing skid tonight? Or will the defending champions pile more misery on Mike Budenholzer’s squad? Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this East vs. West matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our previews of Detroit vs. Cleveland and Indiana vs. Miami.
Golden State returned to winning ways Saturday with a thrilling 115-112 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. It was a huge bounce-back win for the Warriors, who suffered a humiliating 32-point defeat to Portland in their previous game. With the victory, the Warriors improved their overall record this season to a league-best 49-5 slate.
Starring for the Warriors in this critical road win was Draymond Green. He had his NBA-leading 11th triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Green has been tremendous for the Warriors this campaign, averaging 14.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game this season. Also providing a major spark for Golden State in this contest was Klay Thompson. He scored a game-high 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field.
They will look to sustain the momentum of that huge win when they take on the reeling Atlanta Hawks tonight. For the Warriors to accomplish that feat, they will need to continue their excellent play on the offensive end. The Warriors were red-hot from the field against the Clippers, shooting at an exceptional 51 percent clip. They will have their work cut out for them, however, against an Atlanta defense that’s allowing just 100.2 points per game this season, seventh-best in the NBA.
The Warriors are 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS in their last seven meetings with the Hawks.
Atlanta’s losing woes show no sign of abating as the Hawks suffered a 117-109 defeat to Milwaukee on Monday. The Hawks simply had no answer for Jabari Parker who posted career highs of 28 points and 13 rebounds. It was another disappointing result for the Hawks who have now lost three consecutive home games.
It won’t get any easier for the embattled Hawks as standing in their way tonight are the red-hot Golden State Warriors. The defending champions have won 25 of their 30 road games this season. To make matters worse for the Hawks, they will face the league’s best offensive team with the Warriors averaging a whopping 115.3 points per game this season.
For Atlanta to pull off the shock victory tonight, it needs to improve on its outside shooting. The Hawks missed 32 of their 41 3-pointers in the loss to the Bucks on Saturday. Apart from that, they will also need to find a way to stop the sizzling Stephen Curry. He averaged 21 points and 10.5 assists in two meetings with the Hawks last season. He leads the league in scoring this season, averaging 29.7 points per contest.
The Hawks are 6-4 SU and ATS in their last 10 home games against the Warriors.
