The Atlanta Hawks look to inch closer to a playoff berth Friday night when they travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets. Atlanta leads New York by two games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with four left to play. The Knicks will play in Toronto on Tuesday.
The Nets come into Friday's game playing well particularly at home. Brooklyn has won 15 straight at Barclays Center and are 22-2 in their last 24 home contests. The Nets completed a season sweep of the Miami Heat on Tuesday but wrapped up their road trip with a 115-111 loss in Orlando.
The Hawks on the other hand are stumbling towards the finish line of the regular season. They dropped Tuesday's game against the Detroit Pistons in disappointing fashion and overcame a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Atlanta is 12-27 on the road this season but did hand the Indiana Pacers a 107-88 loss on their last trip away from Philips Arena.
The Nets have taken both meetings between the two clubs this season winning 91-86 at Barclays and then 127-110 in London at the O2 Arena. Hawks center Pero Antic suffered a broken ankle in that game in London which put him out of action for more than a month. Antic sat out Wednesday's win against Boston with soreness in that ankle and his availability for Friday's game is unknown.
The Nets have virtually locked up the fifth seed in the East and elected to rest Paul Pierce and Shaun Livingston in the loss to the Magic. NetsDaily reports that Andray Blatche has been dealing with the flu and that head coach Jason Kidd plans to rest some of his starters over the remainder of the season.
Former Hawks All-Star Joe Johnson is averaging 15.9 points on 46 percent shooting this season but has tormented his former club averaging 26 points in the two meetings while shooting 57 percent from the floor.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, April 11, 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
TV: SportSouth
Radio: 92.9 "The Game" FM