Atlanta Hawks @ Charlotte Bobcats: Start Time, TV Channel, Live Stream, Point Spread and More
Dec 28, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks power forward
Elton Brand(42) defends Charlotte Bobcats center
Al Jefferson(25) during the fourth quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports
Date: March 17, 2014
Tip-Off Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV Channel: SportSouth (Local in Atlanta), NBA League Pass
Radio: 92.9 FM (Atlanta Flagship), Atlanta Hawks Radio Network Affiliates
Live Stream: League Pass Broadband
I feel comfortable in saying that the Atlanta Hawks’ (29-35) slide is officially over. After a late comeback against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday the team picked up their third straight win. To keep their playoff hopes intact, they’re going to be looking for win No. 4 against the Charlotte Bobcats (33-34) tonight.
The Hawks have already played Charlotte twice this season (once back in November and once at the end of December) and won both games. But, the tables might have turned since that last meeting, as the Bobcats are sitting in third place in the Southeast Division and one seed ahead in the playoffs at this moment. In addition, the Bobcats are riding a four-game winning streak of their own after taking down Denver, Washington, Minnesota and Milwaukee in recent days.
Charlotte is a very good defensive basketball team this year, and is holding opponents to just 97.1 points per game (4th in the NBA) so the Hawks will have their work cut out for them on the offensive end. The Bobcats are a much better defensive team than any of the teams the Hawks have played in the past three games, and they’ll be sending a bit of a message if they can turn this into a convincing win.
Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker are the two guys who make this Charlotte team run, and they are both coming off of 20-point games against the Bucks. If Jeff Teague and Pero Antic/Elton Brand can limit these guys in a significant way, then the Hawks should be able to stroll on to another win.
Offensively, the starters for the Hawks had a nice game against the Nuggets–Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap all scored more than 15 points–but the bench is going to need to provide a bit more than the 13 points they put up.
Vegas has the Hawks as 2.5-point underdogs in this one, but I’d argue that Atlanta is a better team with a healthy Paul Millsap involved. Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@ATLBeatBlog) for more information and stick around for a full game recap tonight after the game is over.