Plain and simple, the Atlanta Hawks looked bad against the Golden State Warriors. Playing without sharp-shooter Kyle Korver, the offense simply was not enough to overpower the Warriors and Stephen Curry. In need of a major bounce back as they finish up the last game of their lengthy Western Conference road trip, the Hawks prepare to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder and triple-double machine, Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook continues to put together an MVP-style season with Kevin Durant officially out indefinitely and he will look to continue that against the Hawks who beat the Thunder in their first meeting this year. The Thunder continue to be a one-man show with Westbrook as he averages 33.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.3 assists in his last 11 games, totaling six triple-doubles in the process. On Wednesday he had a 36-point, 10-assist and five-rebound game against the Boston Celtics. However, his 7.5 turnovers per game have boosted the etam's average to 18.2 a night.
Oklahoma City is hoping Westbrook can keep the pace up as they hold on to the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They will play eight of their remaining 14 games at home this season which works in their favor while putting up a 17-2 home record since December. In place of both Durant and Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter is picking up the slack with 20.2 points and 12.2 rebounds over his past six games. Steven Adams will need to step things up as the center has put up 14.3 points and 1.07 rebounds in his last three games.
Atlanta is struggled at the moment with Korver out. The team simply looked out of sync on offense against the Warriors, dropping the team to 3-2 on this road trip. Paul Millsap was the star of the game against Oklahoma City back in January when the Hawks won at home thanks to 54 points in the paint. Millsap put up 22 points with 10 rebounds. The Hawks would like to end the road trip on a high note before heading off to face the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
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