Atlanta Hawks vs. Washington Wizards preview: A new streak?

The streak is over for the Atlanta Hawks.

Mike Budenholzer and his team suffered their first loss in quite some time on Monday night in New Orleans, and now, the Hawks are back at home to face off with a divisional opponent in the Washington Wizards. While much of the NBA world looks ahead to the Hawks-Warriors match-up on Friday evening at Philips Arena, the team itself will surely be looking to begin a new winning streak beginning on Wednesday.

Washington trails Atlanta by nine full games in the standings, but that does not mean that the Wizards will roll over here. John Wall is a legitimate NBA superstar, the Wizards have Paul Pierce and Bradley in support on the wing, and up front, Washington is blessed with two behemoths in NeNe and Marcin Gortat. Simply put, Washington has one of the best starting fives in the NBA.

Depth is the biggest advantage for the Hawks in this match-up, but with Thabo Sefolosha out for up to eight weeks and Shelvin Mack as a significant question mark, Atlanta is short-handed in this spot. We are likely to see a lot of Kent Bazemore for the third straight game, but if Mack is available (something I wouldn’t count on), that could lessen the pressure.

The Hawks are a 5.5-point favorite here, and frankly, they have been the better team this season. Still, Washington could prove to be a worthy competitor and the Atlanta Hawks need a win to satisfy the sudden doubters. Stay tuned.

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