Atlanta Hawks at San Antonio Spurs Preview: Facing the Champs
Four days after getting some much-needed revenge against the Indiana Pacers, the Atlanta Hawks (1-1) are on the road to take on the defending champs: The San Antonio Spurs (1-1).
It goes without saying that this is going to be a huge challenge for Atlanta. Taking on the Spurs at home is a bad matchup, and when you have to go on the road… good luck. Still, no team goes undefeated and the Hawks certainly have an offense capable of hanging with Gregg Popovich’s.
In addition to watching the likes of Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Al Horford take on Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, Hawks-Spurs games are always additionally interesting because of the coaching dynamic. After seeing Mike Budenholzer on the same bench as Pop for so many years, it’s fun to see the two game plan against each other.
The Spurs dropped their last game on the road to the Phoenix Suns, where the team shot just 40.2 percent from the floor. conversely, the Hawks are coming off of their 102-92 victory over the Pacers, where they shot over 50 percent as a team.
For the Spurs, their was a noticeable lack of production from Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard–the two combined to go 0-10 from the field while Duncan and Parker carried the team with 16 and 19 points respectively. If the Hawks are able to limit and/or luck into Ginobli and Leonard having back-to-back poor games, it will make the challenge much easier.
Still, Leonard has been dealing with an eye-infection and that can be to blame for at least some of the poor play in Phoenix.
The Spurs have thoroughly dominated the Hawks within the confines of their own stadium, winning the past 16 matchups in the AT&T Center. Hopefully that streak comes to an end after the final buzzer.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@ATLBeatBlog) for more Atlanta Hawks information leading up to the game and check back after the final buzzer for a full recap.
Date: November 5, 2014
Tip-Off Time: 8:30 p.m.
TV Channel: SportSouth, NBA League Pass ($)
Radio: 92.9 The Game (Local in Atlanta), Atlanta Hawks Radio Network Affiliates
Live Stream: League Pass Broadband