The Hawks continue their west coast road trip after clutching out a close victory over the Kings on Monday. They're taking on a Warriors team that has been downright unstoppable. Picking up only their third loss on Monday against the Clippers, this team has been playing at its peak. However, Atlanta lines up weirdly well against a small, quick Warriors team built around ball movement. We’re excited to see if the Hawks can tack on a second loss in a row for the Warriors.
Atlanta has been a mixed bag this season. They’re sitting at 7-8 on the year. They’re a team searching for identity. The biggest question mark on this roster might be Trae Young, though. As the team leader, he’s been having a down year and missed some games due to injury. He can’t seem to find his scoring touch, and against bigger athletes, he’s been unplayable at times. He’s still an elite passer, but without his perimeter shots dropping, the team would have looked better without him.
The emergence of Dyson Daniels has been an impressive. He’s been one of the best defenders in the league, and he’s found some rhythm on offense, too. When they have their jumbo lineup of Daniel, Risacher, Johnson, Hunter, and Capela on the court, few teams can cope with the size. That lineup isn’t winning them a title, but it has put Trae at the forefront of most Atlanta fan's minds as a potential trade candidate. Instead, going with a young core of big athletes over the undersized ball-dominant guard.
However, the future of the franchise doesn’t matter tonight. Taking on the Warriors, who have managed to keep their spot at the top of the Western Conference. They have been incredible. Curry looks like he has rolled back to the clock, while Green and Wiggins have been some of the league's best defenders. They have truly brought back the magic of this team, and their role players continue to come up huge for them.
This roster just makes sense, with a healthy mix of veteran talent that has reshaped this team's potential. They’re small, but that hasn’t kept them out of games. The solid interior defense of Draymond Green has been enough to hold back even some of the best centers in the league. Though, this matchup against the Hawks could be challenging. The Hawks have the defenders to throw at Curry. Not that anyone can stop Curry, but if they can slow him down, while using their size to find high-quality shots, they could give the Warriors trouble. We will be locked into this matchup as we think it’s more of a toss-up game than the sportsbooks do. At the end of it though, we’re going with the Hawks to steal another on the road tonight!
Trae Young Over 4.5 Turnovers: With Trae’s shot not falling, he turns into a passing machine. He’s had some massive assist games with the ball movement being good; we just epic that to be exploited tonight. If his shot isn’t falling, you can believe Curry and Wiggins will be jumping passing lanes left and right. We think this could be a rough night for Trae.
Dyson Daniels Over 2.5 Steals: Daniel’s defensive prowess continues to be a bright spot on the Hawks. For him to get over three steals against this team isn’t out of the question at all. He didn’t get a single steal last game but got four unexpected blocks. However, we think that with his activity on defense, there is a strong chance of it happening tonight!
Clint Capela 10+ Rebounds: The Warriors have let bigs dominate them on the boards. Against the Clippers on Monday, Ivica Zubac had 17 rebounds alone. With Capela probably getting around 25+ minutes in tonight's game, ten rebounds is very doable for the veteran big man!