All Hawks

San Antonio Spurs at Atlanta Hawks Preview

The Hawks (26-28) host the Spurs (20-35).

Pat Benson

© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
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Preview

The first of two games between the Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs occurred the night before Thanksgiving. The Hawks handled the Spurs easily in a 124-106 road victory. Every Hawks player got playing time, and everyone scored except for Solomon Hill.

Tonight should be another lay-up for the Hawks. They have won seven of their last ten games and can officially put the trade rumors behind them. After standing pat yesterday, Atlanta's front office has decided to bet on the same team (minus Cam Reddish) that got them to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

As of this morning, the Hawks have the second-best offensive rating with a bottom-four defensive rating. To be fair, their defensive rating since MLK Day is 11th, and their net rating is 4th in the NBA during that time frame.

Rather than go through the motions against an easier opponent tonight, the team has to work on solidifying their defense through consistent energy and crisp execution. The occasional cold shooting night is perfectly acceptable, but it's troublesome when their head coach questions their focus this late in the season.

While the Hawks try to mount another late-season playoff push, the Spurs are destined for the NBA Draft Lottery and are killing time until they get there. By trading Derrick White yesterday, they waved the white flag on this season.

Nevertheless, the Spurs rank in the top-five in pace, field goals made, and field goals attempted. The Hawks better lace up their running shoes tonight if they're going to contain Dejounte Murray and Keldon Johnson.

Injury Report

The Spurs injury report lists Tre Jones (dental procedure) as out. Additionally, Goran Dragic and Tomas Satoransky are not yet with the team. The Hawks injury report is looking pretty clean as well. Only Lou Williams (hamstring tightness) is listed as questionable.

Odds

SI Sportsbook lists the Hawks as 7.5-point favorites, and the over/under is set at 233.5 points. Given the turnover on the Spurs roster yesterday, the Hawks should cruise to victory tonight. 

As always, we will be live-tweeting the game and back here later with your post-game recap. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.

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Published
Pat Benson
PAT BENSON

Pat Benson covers the Atlanta Hawks for Sports Illustrated's All Hawks. He has covered the NBA for several years and is the author of "Kobe Bryant's Sneaker History (1996-2020)".

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