Atlanta Hawks make it 15 in a row with win over Oklahoma City Thunder
The Atlanta Hawks put their 14-game winning streak on the line against Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, and now, that streak stands at 15 in a row. Philips Arena was as packed and the Hawks didn’t disappoint, as they beat another Western Conference powerhouse, 103-93.
The first quarter was slow on both ends for Atlanta and there was some worry that they just wouldn’t have it on this night. Russell Westbrook came out hot and was cutting through the Hawks defense and getting every call along the way. He put up 13 points and got to the line 6 times in pacing the Thunder to a 30-23 advantage. The lone bright spot for Atlanta in the opening frame was DeMarre Carroll who was 3-for-4 from the floor and led the Hawks with 7 points.
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The second quarter was much better from the home team, as they held OKC to 17 points and 31% from the field. While the Atlanta defense stepped up, the offense continued to struggle shooting 45%. No one had more than 5 (Bazemore, Korver) but if you ask anyone that was there, all they will remember was the final play of the half.
Paul Millsap stole the pass from Durant and was off to the races. Kyle Korver happened to be a step ahead of him and then it happened. Paul passed it off to Kyle and the 6-foot-7 guard from Creighton jammed it home to beat the halftime buzzer. The dunk gave the Hawks the lead and the sold out crowd went bonkers. Korver extended his dunk streak to two games, but was otherwise shutdown only scoring 5 points on the night. The lead was one but it was a lead and the Hawks don’t lose many when leading at half.
I don’t know what Coach Budenholzer said at the half, but it worked. The Hawks were red-hot from the field in the 3rd frame shooting 63%. Jeff Teague led the team with 9 points, but seven members of the Hawks got in on the scoring, and 31 points was the result. Atlanta would extend their halftime lead to 4 heading to the fourth quarter.
The closing quarter was close to a mirror image of the second quarter, as the Atlanta defense clamped down on KD and Russell Westbrook holding them to 7 points combined. Paul Millsap, on the other hand, went huge. He was 4 for 6 from the field and 1 for 1 from behind the arc. Millsap lit up the Thunder for 11 points and pulled down 3 boards as Atlanta took their biggest lead of the night, mounting a 15-point advantage with 5:53 left in the game.
The Hawks were able to cruise from that point and Jeff Teauge put the exclamation point on the game with a monster jam with :47 seconds left. The first quarter was a struggle, but overall, it was impressive. Paul would end up with 22 points and 10 boards adding another double-double to his All-Star worthy resume. Al would also add a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Jeff Teague fell an assist shy. His 17 points and 9 assists was second only to Russell Westbrook who has 11 dimes.
The 15-game winning streak is the longest in Atlanta Hawks franchise history and they will put that back on the line Sunday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Check back with us on Sunday morning for a full preview of the Hawks-Timberwolves action. Stay tuned!