Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: Feb. 8 vs. Denver Nuggets
The Atlanta Hawks take on the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night. Can they get a new winning streak started before their west coast road trip?
The consistently inconsistent season for the Atlanta Hawks rolls on. Their most recent game was a valley rather than a peak. They came out flat against the Utah Jazz, resulting in a 120-95 loss. When the Hawks lose they have a tendency to lose hard.
To be fair, the Jazz are one of the best teams in the Western Conference. There is no shame in losing to them. The way it happened just left a nasty taste in the mouths of Hawks fans. Atlanta’s recent string of blowout losses would be concerning if they weren’t balanced by exciting wins over tough opponents.
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This Hawks team is an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in bacon, wrapped in a mystery. I haven’t figured them out and neither has the rest of the NBA. Anyway, the Hawks will look to get back on track tonight.
The Denver Nuggets enter Phillips Arena tonight, looking to avenge their Dec. 23 home loss to the Hawks. That game featured one of the weirdest finishes in recent memory. That’s quite the accomplishment for the 2016-17 Atlanta Hawks, they specialize in weird finishes.
The Hawks trailed 108-100 in the waning minutes of the game. The Nuggets had it all wrapped up, they just had to close things out. They weren’t able to do that. Denver collapsed, there’s no other word for it.
Atlanta scored the final nine points of the game, all at the free-throw line. They would come away with a 109-108 win. The stunned home crowd in Denver could only look on in horrified shock. Dennis Schroder scored 27 points to lead the Hawks. Paul Millsap added 20 points, including the game-winning free-throws.
Denver got solid performances out of Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, but all that would be remembered is their fourth quarter collapse. Today is a new day, however, Denver will look to get revenge for a loss that should have been a win.