warriors vs hawks preview (Photo: John Bazemore / AP)
Golden State Warriors (38-24) vs. Atlanta Hawks (26-33)
Tip-off: Friday, March 7th, 2014 – 7:30 PM
Location: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, California
Spread: Warriors -9 (meaning the Warriors are 9-point favorites)
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @samesfandiari)
Last Game / Streak:
ATL – Lost 102-78 vs POR in Portland, Lost 4 games in a row
GSW – Won 108-88 vs Boston in Boston, Won 2 games in a row
Probable Starting Lineups:
Warriors:
PG: Stephen Curry (23.9 PPG, 8.9 APG, 4.4 RPG)
SG: Klay Thompson (17.9 PPG, 2.4 APG, 3.1 RPG)
SF: Andre Iguodala (9.4 PPG, 4.3 APG, 4.9 RPG)
PF: Davide Lee (18.7 PPG, 2.1 APG, 9.7 RPG)
C: Andrew Bogut (8.0 PPG, 1.6 APG, 10.5 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Mark Jackson (106-101)
Hawks:
PG: Jeff Teague ( 16.2 PPG, 6.9 APG, 2.6 RPG)
SG: Kyle Korver ( 11.9 PPG, 2.9 APG, 4.0 RPG)
SF: DeMarre Carroll ( 10.9 PPG, 1.8 APG, 5.5 RPG)
PF: Paul Millsap ( 17.6 PPG, 3.0 APG, 8.3 RPG)
C: Elton Brand ( 5.6 PPG, 0.7 APG, 4.9 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Mike Budenholzer (26-33)
The last time the Warriors played the Hawks, it was one to remember, also en route to a season-best ten-game winning streak.
The Warriors ended up 4-2 on their six-game road trip. They also had back-to-back victories during the road trip. One game that stood out from the most was Thompson’s turn-around jumper against the Indiana Pacers with 0.6 remaining on the clock.
After that game, Golden State beat the Boston Celtics 108-88 and never trailed in that game.
The Warriors are going to play 13 of their last 20 games of the season at home. Golden State plays their first 9 at home in a span of 11 days. They will face the Hawks, who are trying to evade 13 losses in their last 14 games.
Returning home for the Warriors is pivotable and can make the difference if they hang on the 6th seed or downgrade and go down to the 7th seed.
In February, the Warriors had a stretch that they had lost five of seven games at Oracle Arena, but since then they have vastly improved. Golden State has won four out of their last five games at home making 41.2% from downtown. Curry plays better at home, averaging around 25.6 points per game on almost 60.0% shooting from the field.
After the game at Boston, Lee told reporters:
David Lee postgame after the #Warriors defeated the #Celtics: "Our thought is we shouldn't lose any more games at home."
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) March 6, 2014
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Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area writes:
“For the most part, we’ve come out we’ve come out and played very, very well,” center Jermaine O’Neal said. “Hopefully, out energy can be even higher in a building that gives you a lot of energy. So we’re looking forward to that.”
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Of the final 13 home games, only four – Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio and Memphis – are against teams with winning records. All four happen to be in the Western Conference playoff picture.
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“We’ll take each game like it’s a playoff game,” Lee said. “We take each game trying to be playing the best ball we can be playing, going into the playoffs. That’s the key, to have our team peak at the right time. And it starts with our defense.’
The Hawks are in the middle of a six-game road trip. They’ve allowed 115.3 points per game this far game this season. With their loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday they have now lost four straight and 12 out of 13 games.
Kris Willis of PeachtreeHoops.com writes:
Things don’t get any easier for the Atlanta Hawks when they continue their road trip with a stop in Oakland where they will take on the Golden State Warriors.
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Atlanta’s lost four straight games and 12 of their last 13. They have dropped eight straight on the road including a 102-78 loss in Portland on Wednesday. Atlanta struggled mightily against the Blazers shooting just 33 percent from the floor including 4-27 from three-point range.
Korver’s NBA streak with at least one 3-pointer made was snapped at 127. Per Warriors radio play-by-play announcer Tim Roye, Curry is now the league leader in consecutive games played with a three-pointer made:
Kyle Korver's streak of games w/at least 1- 3point FG ended at 127, @StephenCurry30 now has longest streak at 50,GSW VS ATL 7pm @KNBR
— Tim Roye (@warriorsvox) March 7, 2014
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The Hawks got center Pero Antic back from a 17-game absence but played their fifth straight without All-Star Millsap, who is nursing a bruised right knee. Millsap will start tonight, per Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports:
Hawks All-Star forward Paul Millsap starting tonight versus Warriors after missing the past five games with right knee contusion.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) March 7, 2014
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