With a daunting 7-game road trip just around the corner and 26 games left in the regular season, the Golden State Warriors are looking up the standings towards the 8th and final playoff spot, hoping to rack up some wins and make their way into the postseason. The Warriors will try to regroup at home after a 115-93 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks at Oracle Arena tonight at 7:30 PT. Despite the loss Wednesday night, the Warriors have still won 7 of their last 10 games and hope to take some momentum on the road with them with a win tonight.
The W’s will have to bring their ‘A’ game tonight against an Atlanta team playing the fifth of a seven-game road trip broken up by the All-Star Weekend. The Hawks have the fifth-most road wins in the NBA this season yet have lost five of their last six. But with Eastern Conference All-Stars Joe Johnson and Al Horford on the squad they are a dangerous team that will take all of the Warriors focus and effort to get a win before the road trip.
In their last meeting in Atlanta on December 29th the Hawks fought off the Warriors for a 103-93 win despite a career high 32-point performance by the W’s Dorell Wright. I have a feeling it’s going to be another shootout tonight in Oakland with Monta Ellis looking to make up for his 6-18 shooting performance on Wednesday night.
In roster news, the trade of Brandon Wright and Dan Gadzuric for Troy Murphy opened up a spot on the team, compelling the Warriors to re-sign Jeff Adrien from the D-League. The 6-7 power forward started the season on the team but was released when the W’s signed Acie Law in early December. Adrien has been killing it in the D-League; averaging 18.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game. He scored 27 points with 9 boards in his last D-League game Thursday.
Key To The Game: David Lee
Golden State really needs a solid performance from David Lee, who will have his hands full with Al Horford tonight. If David can be aggressive on the boards and bring some defensive intensity the Warriors will have a great chance to win this game.
4.5 games back with 26 to play. Time for the Warriors to buckle down.