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Game Preview: Warriors at Hawks - 3/17/23

Two of League's Highest Scoring Teams Face off in Atlanta

LOOKING TO BREAK THE STREAK
The Warriors are amidst their longest road losing streak since the 2019-20 season but will look to right the ship against the Hawks on Friday. Two of the highest scoring teams in the league, the Warriors (118.3 ppg, 2nd) and Hawks (117.2 5th) are led by explosive guards — Stephen Curry and Atlanta’s Trae Young. This will be the Dubs’ second and final matchup against the Hawks this season, as the Dubs won their most recent battle in a double-overtime thriller, 143-141 Jan. 2 at Chase Center, on Jan. 2 at Chase Center. Klay Thompson scored a season-high 54 points and Kevon Looney grabbed 21 rebounds, including a clutch offensive board that led to the game-winning tip-in as the buzzer sounded. 


Warriors at Hawks
Friday, March 17 | Tipoff: 4:30 p.m.
WATCH: NBCSBA; NBATV
LISTEN: 95.7 The Game, Warriors Mobile App and Warriors Radio Network


LAST TIME OUT
Despite Stephen Curry tying a season-high with 50 points (including 21 points in the third quarter), the Warriors fell to the Los Angeles Clippers 134-126 on Wednesday. The Warriors had 12 turnovers in the first half and the Clippers scored 20 points on 16 Dubs’ turnovers overall. The Dubs also allowed 16 offensive rebounds and 27 second-chance points. Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers, winners of four straight, with 30 points and eight rebounds. » Full Game Recap

Golden State Warriors Highlights vs. LA Clippers

MATCHUP AT A GLANCE

GSWATL
36-3434-35
6th in West8th in East
PTS: 118.3 (2nd)PTS: 117.2 (22nd)
REB: 44.0 (10th)REB: 43.7 (13th)
AST: 29.6 (1st)AST: 24.6 (20th)

PREVIOUS GAME STARTERS
GSW: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Donte DiVincenzo, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney
ATL: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, John Collins and Clint Capela

INJURY & ROSTER NOTES
GSW: Stephen Curry (left thumb; soreness) is questionable. Kevon Looney (low back; soreness) is probable. Draymond Green (league suspension), Andre Iguodala (left wrist; fracture), Gary Payton II (right adductor soreness), Ryan Rollins (right foot surgery) and Andrew Wiggins (personal reasons) are out. Team Notes
ATL: Jalen Johnson (left hamstring; tightness) is probable. Trent Forrest (g league-two-way), Donovan Williams (g league-two-way) and Tyrese Martin (g league-on assignment) are out. Team Notes

CURRY'S 12TH 50-BOMB
On Wednesday, Stephen Curry reached the 50-point milestone for the 12th time in his career. The Warriors are 8-4 when Curry scores at least 50 points, but they’ve lost both games when he’s reached that mark this season. The day after his birthday, Curry became the first 35-year-old to score 50 points with eight or more made 3-pointers. The two-time MVP also became the only player in NBA history to score 10,000 career points, exclusively from 3-pointers.

“It sucks,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said, disappointed that the team couldn’t capitalize on Curry’s incredible performance. “You just sit and think about what more could I have done to help him? When you get a guy going off like that, you need to find a way to capitalize on it. We didn’t do that.”

TEAM LEADERS

GSWATL
PTS: Curry (30.1)PTS: Young (27.0)
REB: Looney (9.1)REB: Capela (11.1)
AST: D. Green (6.8)AST: Young (10.1)

ATLANTA SCOUTING REPORT
From a blockbuster offseason trade to changing coaches midseason, the Atlanta Hawks have had a compelling season. First, the Hawks traded four first-round picks to acquire Allstar Dejounte Murray. The two-way combo guard was brought in to alleviate some ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities from Trae Young and mask his weaknesses on the defensive end. Murray has averaged 20.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 64 games for the Hawks this season.

On Feb. 22., the Hawks fired Head Coach Nate McMillan, who had coached the franchise to the Eastern Conference Finals just two years prior. With playoff and contending aspirations within the Eastern Conference, the Hawks were just 29-30 under McMillan and needed a change. So they replaced McMillan with former Utah Jazz Head Coach Quinn Snyder, who coached the Jazz to the first seed in 2020-21. Snyder is a defensive-minded coach with experience coaching a young star, Donovan Mitchell. The Hawks hope that he can take the franchise to the next level, but thus far, they are just 3-5 in his tenure.

Ultimately, the Hawks will go as far as multi-time Allstar Trae Young takes them. In some ways, Young resembles Stephen Curry. Young is a long-distance 3-pointer shooter, but unlike Curry, he has struggled from the perimeter this season. Young is shooting 33.6 percent from behind the arc this season on 6.6 attempts per game. However, he has made up for his declined efficiency with volume offensive production. Young is one of two players, along with Luka Doncic, ranking top 10 in points (10th; 27.0) and assists per game (third; 10.1). In addition, he is the only player in the league averaging 25 or more points with double-digit assists.