A quick game preview of the Atlanta Hawks matchup against the Utah Jazz.
For the second time this season, and the first time at home, the Atlanta Hawks will face off against the Utah Jazz, who are fighting hard for playoff position in the stacked Western Conference.
The West is a dogfight right now, with every loss a seemingly huge blow to your position in the standings and every win a delightful triumph. Just ask the San Antonio Spurs, who have ridden a 9-game winning streak to the 5th seed as of this writing, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have lost 3 straight – giving them an identical 42-29 record as the Spurs.
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Right behind those two teams in the 7 seed are the Utah Jazz, who look to continue a 4-game winning streak of their own against the Atlanta Hawks in State Farm Arena.
The last time these two teams met up, the Jazz clobbered the Hawks in Salt Lake City by a final score of 128 to 112. The Jazz starters were great, and Ricky Rubio was the sparkplug with 22 points, 11 assists and a +30 on/off rating.
Rudy Gobert, for his part, finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds and a whopping 15 free throw attempts. Atlanta Hawks legend Kyle Korver poured in 14 points off the bench for the Jazz as well.
For the Hawks, Trae Young was the only player to log more than 30 minutes and obliterated that number with a lofty 37 minutes played. He shot 5 of 10 from three-point territory and finished with 28 points and 9 assists. John Collins stymied by Gobert’s immense size and length, leading to only 4 rebounds, but he did log 16 points.
Red Pepper, more commonly known as Kevin Huerter, had a strong night with 14 points on 4 of 7 shooting from long range with 7 assists.
This game tips off at 7:30 p.m. EST.