Road Trip!

Tonight the Thunder head into Atlanta to start off a three game road trek. This away trip is tied for the longest they have left and is only one game shorter than OKC's longest of the season. After it's done, the Thunder will then have their longest stretch of homes games this season (4). Tonight's game is the toughest of the trip and then the following games are progressively easier. I would have much preferred that we play these in reverse, but unfortunately, that's not an option.

The Hawks are 11-2 at home and have won 5 of their last 6 games losing only to the Celtics who are currently the NBA's #1 team. This will be game 6 of a very successful 8 game home stretch. The Hawks are winning but not averaging a lot of points in this home stretch only cracking into triple digits once. None of their opponents in the made it to 100 in the stretch. In fact, the last time they gave up that many points was December 6 against the Mavericks, and the Mavericks only had 100.

This is the second and final meeting between the two teams this season, and the first went to the Hawks by a narrow margin: 89-85. The Thunder had led after three quarters but blew it in the forth. Neither team shot well all game with both squads averaging under 40% from the field.

The loss was a frustrating one for the Thunder as they let a golden opportunity to hand the Hawks their first loss of the season slip away. Had OKC played up to their normal level of bad basketball instead of sinking below it, that game would have been a win. Expect that both teams will play better this go around but neither team will break in the triple digits. If the Thunder can find a way to put 95+ points on the board, they should steal this victory.