Atlanta Hawks: 5 Intriguing Western Home Games in 2015-16

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The Atlanta Hawks enter the 2015-16 as a major contender in the Eastern Conference. After a 60-22 2014-15 NBA Season, the Hawks certainly ruffled some feathers in the NBA with their surprisingly strong performances.

Part of the reason the Atlanta Hawks had so much success last season was because of their ability to win against the superior Western Conference. Atlanta went a combined 22-8 in their 15 home-and-away series with the Wild, Wild West.

-= Atlanta Hawks Picked 3rd in East by ESPN =-

Outside of San Antonio, the Atlanta Hawks were able to take at least one game from every Western Conference foe. Atlanta won some games in very difficult places last year: Portland, Houston, Dallas, the Staples Center twice.

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I attribute much of the Atlanta Hawks success to winning so many games against the West because of Head Coach Mike Budenholzer’s unrivaled familiarity with the Western Conference. Coach Bud was an assistant coach to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio for 17 seasons.

Having a leg up on the rest of the East in Inter-Conference Play allowed the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks to convincingly win the Eastern Conference with the best record during the regular season. Outside of an occasional letdown (LA Lakers at home) and a few impossible road games (@ Memphis and @ Golden State), the Atlanta Hawks had nothing short of an amazing 2014-15 against the Western Conference.

With the 2015-16 NBA schedule’s release a few days ago, we now know when all 15 Western teams will make their lone appearance in Philips Arena next season. As the regular season slowly but surely approaches, here are the five home games that I find the most intriguing for the Atlanta Hawks versus the Western Conference in 2015-16.

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