Full Squad?

It won’t have the same affect on the Atlanta Hawks as it has on tonight’s opponents, the Golden State Warriors (10:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, CSN Bay Area), but the Hawks may be as close to full strength as they’ve been in awhile with the return of All-Star Paul Millsap (bruised knee) to the starting lineup. Atlanta will need all hands on deck to have any chance of tripping up G-State and snipping their latest losing string in front of the 67^th consecutive sold-out audience at Oracle Arena.

Getting Pero Antić back up to full speed and platooning him with Elton Brand, alongside a rejuvenated DeMarre Carroll and Millsap, will go a long way toward restoring the competitive spirit that has been slip-sliding away for the better part of a month. Besides injuries, the Hawks are wrestling with complacency during a road trip where they’re facing one hungry team after another.

As Atlanta runs repeatedly beak-first into a tanking firewall in the Eastern Conference standings, they’ve faced a Celtics team that needs the Hawks and Nets to lose, a Suns team hustling to avoid dropping out of the postseason with the Grizzlies right on their heels, and a Blazers team that would really like to open the first round at home.

As show-stopper entertaining as they can be, the Warriors are in the same boat as Phoenix, and with the 9-seed just three games behind they can’t afford any more slip-ups on what is already a subpar 18-10 home record. Atlanta is the first of nine home contests over an 11-game stretch for the Dubs, the next two visiting teams eager to overtake them in the Western Conference standings (Phoenix and Dallas).

After the Warriors, the Hawks go to Staples Center the next night, facing a rested Clippers squad that just knocked the taste out of the Lakers’ mouths on Thursday night and seems ready to make their final charge up to the top of the West. Atlanta has very few wins away from Philips Arena, but only one of them is against a projected playoff team, and that was a win in Charlotte way back on November 11.

Kyle Korver’s Threak came to a halt as the Hawks laid their customary egg before a national audience in Portland on Wednesday. The new guy holding the belt? Why, none other than Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry (50 straight games in a row, and counting). The league-leader in threes made (3.3 per game) and attempted, Curry (23.8 PPG, 8.7 APG, 41.4 3FG%) is likely to play despite soreness in his leg. He was 0-for-4 against the Hawks in Atlanta on January 3, before his sole triple of the game with just five minutes remaining closed the gap to six, setting the stage for Andre Iguodala’s eventual buzzer-crusher.

Head Coach Mark Jackson is laying his defensive imprint (99.2 points allowed per 100 possessions, 3rd best in NBA) on a franchise not very accustomed to such effort. Yet he knows his team’s championship dreams rest on having a spry Curry and Bogut in April. If the W’s can build an early lead, look for a Jackson to serve up a heaping of our old friend Jordan Crawford (15 points over 20 minutes, in his triumphant return to Boston on Wednesday; 7.5 APG, 6-for-24 shooting and 1-for-12 on threes vs. Atlanta this season) to give Curry’s legs some rest and preserve point guard Steve Blake, their latest veteran pickup.

Tonight, Jackson is likely to lean more on Curry's Splash Brother Klay Thompson (behind only Curry, Korver, and Damian Lillard in threes made) to do the heavy-lifting on offense. Thompson will be looking to bounce back after going just 1-for-8 from deep against the Celtics on Wednesday. Look for DeMarre Carroll to get switched over from Iguodala or Harrison Barnes to deal with Thompson.

Jackson is also carefully watching Bogut’s and David Lee’s minutes (each under 25 minutes in four of their last five games), divvying up reserve time between Marreese Speights and the surprisingly still-good Jermaine O’Neal. If Millsap is close to 100 percent, he and Lee should cancel each other out, especially if their guards on feeding them well on pick-and-rolls and on the low block. Reliant on Iguodala to roam the middle on defense, Bogut is unlikely to evacuate the paint unless Antić can provide some Al-proximation with his long-range jumper.

After a stellar offensive performance in the prior four games, Jeff Teague took his foot off the pedal against Portland and the Hawks got run over. To stay competitive in this game, he and the Hawks backcourt must apply consistent defensive pressure. The Warriors turn the ball over 15.2 times per game (4^th most in NBA), led by Curry (3.9 TOs/game, most in NBA). Opponents’ 17.3 points per game off turnovers rank third among possible playoff teams.

In 20 games where Teague snares at least two steals, his scoring average jumps to 19.5 PPG, and the Hawks (10-10) only lost one of those games by double digits. In the 18 games where Jeff doesn’t register a single steal, his scoring drops to 14.1 PPG, and the Hawks lost all but five of them, including four double-digit losses (like Wednesday’s 24-point trouncing in Portland).

Go Hawks!

~lw3