Jim Cavan of Bleacher Report: “For all the talk about conference disparity in today’s NBA, you can’t accuse the East of being boring. Bad, perhaps—possibly even historically so. But not boring. The New Year begins with yet another coup for the lowly Eastern throne, this one orchestrated by the plucky, pass-happy Atlanta Hawks. To the well-trained eye, Atlanta’s brand of ball—as precise a poetry as you’re liable to find this side of the Mississippi River—isn’t so much different from the ones the San Antonio Spurs guerilla marketed to championship results last season.”
Bo Churney of Hawks Hoop: “The second game of a back to back in Portland screamed “schedule loss” to me. The Trail Blazers are an exceptional team and play well in front of their raucous home crowd; only another exceptional team would be able to take them down in their home arena. And we are learning that the 2014-15 Hawks are that kind of exceptional team. Paul Millsap scored 27 points and Jeff Teague added 22 points to lead the Hawks to a 115-107 victory in Portland on Saturday night. The win gave the Hawks their fourth in a row and their 18th in their last 20 games. It also gave the Hawks a full-game cushion on the top spot in the Eastern Conference.”
Chris Vivlamore of the AJC: “In a season of one impressive win after another, the Hawks may have recorded the best Saturday night. The Hawks went into Portland, the team with the second-best record in the NBA and vaunted Western Conference, and came away with a 115-107 victory. At home, the Trail Blazers were 15-2, had won seven straight and were 9-0 against Eastern Conference teams. Not anymore. The Hawks (25-8) held the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference with their 18th win in the past 20 games. Paul Millsap led seven double-digit Hawks scorers with 27 points. One of those double-digit scorers was Thabo Sefolosha, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.”
