Atlanta Hawks (41-9, 24-3 home) vs. Golden State Warriors (39-8, 16-6 road)
How to Tune-In:
TV: Sports South HD
Radio: 92.9 The Game FM
When: 7:00 EST
Where: Philips Arena
It’s Feb. 6 and we’re still looking at a regular-season contest between the Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors as a potential NBA Finals preview. It’s still very weird, at least from an Atlanta Hawks’ perspective. The Hawks are 41-9, and they feel 41-9. The Warriors are 39-8, but it feels like they should have an even better record than that.
Maybe I’m just weird.
Or maybe dominating the Western Conference feels more impressive than dominating the Eastern Conference. We’ll go with that.
Nevertheless, Philips Arena will play host to one of the most aesthetically pleasing match-ups in the NBA today. The times, they have changed.
Three Things:
1) The Warriors’ defense
Last year, the Warriors were cited, often incorrectly, as a “fun” team to watch. This season, that assertion would be correct as the team is third in offensive efficiency, but more importantly, Steve Kerr, along with his stellar coaching staff, have turned Golden State into the best-defensive unit in the League today.
The Warriors are allowing just 100.5 points per 100 possessions, so the Hawks are going to have their hands full scoring at a high clip against this group from the Golden State.
2) Stephen Curry vs. Jeff Teague
If I was betting man, I’d expect Klay Thompson and Kyle Korver to cancel each other out tonight. Both will probably make a lot of threes, and both clubs will probably live with that. However, the match-up between Jeff Teague and Stephen Curry is a lot more critical. For the Hawks to have a lot of success against the Warriors’ vaunting defense Teague will need to have a monster night on both sides of floor.
3) Paul Milsap
Draymond Green is probably the Warriors’ best defender; he’s strong, totally fine with contact and has a way about him on the defensive end of the floor that’s slightly terrifying. Basically, Green is an intense, talented player who could cause a lot of problems Milsap isn’t accustomed to. Milsap is usually able to utilize his stretch-4 abilities against slower, bigger power forwards in the East but Green, like Milsap, is a unique stretch-4 that matches up very well with Milsap. It could be a very frustrating shooting night for Milsap.
