The New York Knicks aim to keep the streak alive against the Atlanta Hawks
Although the New York Knicks (8-8) are in the midst of an impressive five-game winning streak, none of their opponents during that stretch hold a winning record. That would change if the Knicks can push the streak to six when they host the Atlanta Hawks
(9-7) on Saturday 27 November.
The Knicks are pursuing their first six-game winning streak in nearly five years when they host the Hawks on Saturday afternoon. Atlanta, a perennial play-off contender, will be a far cry from opponents like the Charlotte Bobcats and Golden State Warriors that
the Knicks have recently been beating up on. Still, that has not diminished the spirits of the New York players, who realize they are in the midst of some pretty special play.
"Winning five straight feels great," Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire, who is averaging 25.8 points, 8.6 boards, and 3.0 blocks over those games, recently told reporters. “But being 8-8 and .500 is something that we’ve got to improve on. We still have a lot
of work to do.”
That work may have to start on the defensive end of the floor. The Knicks have made great strides defensively, averaging 7.9 blocks per game thus far this season, tops in the league. That makes last year’s efforts, when the team averaged a league-low 3.7 blocks
per contest, look like ancient history. However, New York has also been porous at times this season, allowing opponents to score an average of 107.1 points per game while shooting 47.8 per cent from the field.
They’ll also have to defend home court, where they are just 2-4 this season, against an Atlanta team that is playing very well on the road. Thus far, the Hawks are 5-2 away from Philips Arena, garnering the best road record in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta
is also the best in the league in terms of points scored on the road, averaging a league-leading 104.0 points per game in those seven contests.
After losing three straight, the Hawks bounced back on Thursday 25 November with an impressive 116-96 victory over the Washington Wizards. Their margin of victory in that contest was the largest the Hawks have enjoyed this season.
“We hadn’t had a game like this all season,” forward Josh Smith told the media after the victory, in which he posted 20 points and added (a season-best) 14 rebounds and two blocks. “We have to make a statement every time we play a division team. We just have
to get wins at this point.”
Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ leading scorer, also showed up big in the victory, netting a team-leading 21 points. That’s much improved from his recent slump as, over the team’s last five contests, he had only averaged 12.2 points per game while shooting just 31.8
per cent from the field.
Johnson will also look to continue his recent dominance over New York after averaging 24.5 points, 6.8 boards, and 5.8 assists per game against the Knicks last season. The Hawks, meanwhile, will look to reverse their recent trend after dropping three of their
four meetings with the Knicks last year.
Prediction: Atlanta 110, New York 101
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