The Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City Thunder have struggled at times this year with the little things, but both teams seem to be figuring out what needs to improve as they get back into the discussions of their respective conferences. The Hawks' defense has been a disaster at times while the Thunder after struggled offensively during games, but both teams are on the uptick which could make this rematch very interesting for both franchises.
Oklahoma City is coming off a near blowout of the Memphis Grizzlies, dismantling the team 125-88. That was their sixth win in eight games as both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook barely broke a sweat with their 32 points and 13 points respectively. Four other players also got into double digits with scoring as the Thunder aim to remain in the Western Conference talks while Golden State blows everyone away. The Thunder finished the game shooting 56 percent after shooting just 41.5 percent in their three previous games. That type of offense could make for a very long night for the Atlanta Hawks if their defense fails to get going.
The Hawks have been dragging lately. They started 7-1 and then hit a 5-8 streak before getting another two-game streak in their favor. Atlanta is coming off a close win over the Dallas Mavericks as the defense continues to remain hot and cold. They did their part on Wednesday holding the Mavericks to just 36 percent shooting. The Hawks have managed to hold opponents under 40 percent shooting in their last three games while rebounding has been a huge issue both offensively and defensively. The team did get back Tiago Splitter against Dallas which was huge. His minutes are being monitored as he deals with a sour hip. He had four points and three rebounds in 12 minutes while Al Horford had 14 points and Paul Millsap added 20 and 11 rebounds.
The first time these two teams saw each other this season Westbrook dominated with 34 points and 11 rebounds. However, Jeff Teague matched him with 25 points, six of those coming in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Millsap has been averaging 22.6 points per game in the five meetings against the Thunder which is good news for the team as they hope to keep the winning moving.
