| Atlanta Hawks 09-10 Season Game #15 | ||
|---|---|---|
 | @ |  |
| 11-4 | 11-3 | |
| Philips Arena | ||
| Nov. 26th, 2009, 8:00 PM | ||
| TNT, Hawks Radio Network, NBA Audio League Pass | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Jason Williams | PG | Mike Bibby |
| Vince Carter | SG | Joe Johnson |
| Mickael Pietrus | SF | Marvin Williams |
| Rashard Lewis | PF | Josh Smith |
| Dwight Howard | C | Al Horford |
| ||
Hawks Injury Report: Mike Bibby is questionable.
Rockets Injury Report: Jameer Nelson is out.
Blogging With the Enemy: Third Quarter Collapse
Predicted bane of the Hawks existence: Ryan Anderson. Here is a stat via Ben Q. Rock Ryan Anderson's career 3FG% is 37.7%; take out games against ATL, and it's 35.0%. Moral of the story, Ryan Anderson hates me.
Game Preview:
First off, happy Thanksgiving! I hope you and your family have a great one and I really hope it is so great you have no problem plopping down at the tv around eight tonight for this game. It should be a good one.
An interesting excerpt I found in one of the weekly power rankings:
And now the Hawks get the awesome job of having to prove to everyone that they can win consistently through the All-Star break, at which point people will question their ability to win the playoffs! Yay! I'm not saying it'll work out like the Magic, but do you notice a pattern? The Magic made the playoffs in '07, lost in the first round. They made it out of the first round in '08, lost in the semis. Then they broke through in '09. Now the Hawks have made it to the playoffs in '08, made it out of the first round, lost in the semis in '09 and started on fire with wins over quality teams. Again, not saying they're the same, but the pattern is intriguing, no?
It is intriguing. Sure, Atlanta does not have an all-pro maturing through the three year span like Orlando had in Dwight Howard, but it is intriguing none the less.
As for this game, the Hawks are rested and Orlando is not. The Magic played last night and lost to Miami. Through the incentive of national tv, Atlanta should bring focus and energy. The bad news of course is the Magic have Dwight Howard (and rarely lose two games in a row). Like any Orlando game, we should be rooting for Stan Van Gundy and Vince Carter to play really good defense on Howard because the Hawks cannot stop him. Outside of an improbable 20 shot attempt night from Dwight though, the game will come down to whether Orlando hits their threes. And maybe with a slightly quicker step, the Hawks can close out just quick enough to make this their second signature win on national television for Atlanta.
It would also be nice if Joe "freaking" Johnson showed up too.
Go Hawks!