Hawks Beat Warriors in Battle of NBA Leaders

The top team in the NBA’s Western Conference squared off against the best team in the Eastern Conference on February 6th with the Golden State Warriors at the Atlanta Hawks.  Earlier this month, the Hawks’ 19 game winning streak came to an end; earlier in the season, the Warriors had a 16 game winning streak.  Golden State is the leagues’s scoring leader, averaging nearly 112 points per game, and Atlanta has one of the better defenses in the NBA this season.

The Warriors did better than their league average, scoring 116, but Atlanta put on a big offensive show and winning 124-116.  All five Atlanta starters scored in double figures, led by point guard Jeff Teague’s 23, and two other Hawks came off the bench to score in double figures.  Atlanta doesn’t have a bunch of players at the top of the league stats for scoring, but they have a winning combination of balanced scoring and strong defense. The Warriors were led by their back court duo of Klay Thompson (29 points) and Stephen Curry (26 points).

With the  loss, Golden State is 39-9; Atlanta improved to 42-9.  After playing the best team in the East, Golden State will get, frankly, a breather in its next game, facing the 10-40 New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on February 7th.  The hapless Knicks are the worst team in the East, and are tied with Minnesota for the worst team in the league.  Atlanta has a tougher assignment, playing the 37-13 Memphis Grizzlies on the road February 8th.