Not to go all “30 for 30″ on you here but what if I told you tomorrow night the ESPN NBA slate features a matchup of the teams with the two best records in the NBA. What’s that? ESPN has not marketed this game at all? Weird I wonder what other sporting event could overshadow a matchup this juicy. All kidding aside we really do have a great matchup here tonight before the real Tourney starts on Tuesday. Atlanta’s Elton Brand agrees with me “”We’re looking forward to it, No. 1 in the East against No. 1 in the West on national TV. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Players to Watch
Stephen Curry
He currently sits 3rd on my MVP ballot behind Harden and Westbrook, (side note how cool would it be for the two front runners for this year’s MVP race to play with last year’s MVP? I bet they would be the next great dynasty… oh wait…) and honestly in my mind he is probably stuck there considering Coach Steve Kerr has taken the smart approach and started resting players with 16 games to go and a 7 game lead over Memphis for the number 1 seed in the West. But maybe, just maybe, with a couple of classic Steph Curry 9/12 from 3 point land and 40+ point games down the stretch he can pull ahead, and I know that is exactly what Warrior fans have been saying to make themselves feel better about the Klay Thompson injury.
Klay Thompson unfortunately will not play tonight however it always seems like when either Curry/Thompson sit the other one goes absolutely bananas, and who doesn’t want to tune in and see Curry go bananas? In games Thompson has missed and Curry has played since last season Curry has averaged 27.5 points and 9 assists, expect that trend to continue not only tonight but over the next 7-10 days in which Thompson will be sidelined.
Al Horford
Last time these two team met (in a 124-116 ATL W) Horford 12 points and 14 rebounds and only played 8 minutes in the second half because of foul trouble. Because of Horford’s inability to stay on the floor Draymond Green pulled down 20 rebounds, 12 after halftime, to keep his team close (it was a 4 point game at the end of the 3rd). Don’t expect Horford to let that happen again tonight. With Atlanta’s ability to spread the floor on the deadly Horford pick and pop and Horford’s ability to keep an undersized player like the 6’7” Green off the boards I see Golden State needing an MVP effort to try and stay close to this regular season juggernaut.
Expect Horford to go for something like 23-15 on solid shooting while being able to protect the paint on drives. Horford is such an agile defender he can do it all. Although he is not an elite rim protector he is serviceable enough to get the job done when against teams like Golden State. If Horford could ever slide to PF and team up with an elite rim protecting center it would be a deadly combo. Fortunately for the Hawks there are really only three teams that would provide real matchup problems for them in the playoffs down low. Unfortunately for the Hawks those three teams currently sit 4th, 5th, and 8th in the East.
Matchup to Watch
Steph Curry vs Hawks Team D
Call it low hanging fruit but I am very excited to see how Coach Budenholzer deals with Curry. Last time these two played Curry had 26 points and 9 assists while Thompson added 29 points. Now with Thompson out Coach Budz can focus solely on defending Curry, not an easy task but made much easier not only with Thompson out but also the fact that in that last meeting 1/3 of Curry’s assists were off Thompson baskets. Thompson was also the only person in that game to benefit from more than one Curry assist (Barbosa-1, Lee-1, Bogut-1, Green-1, Barnes-1, Iguodala-1, Thompson-3). Taking Thompson off the floor not only takes away Curry’s best passing option but it also creates spacing issues for him. With no Thompson expect Iguodala to start at the 2 meaning Golden State’s crunch time lineup will most likely be Curry-Iggy-Barnes-Green-Bogut. If I am Coach Budz I am licking my chops and hedging screens all game. Green is an above average passer but looking back to the last matchup 2 of the 3 assists Green had were to Thompson, and both of those Thompson assists were 3 pointers.
With no Thompson to space the Warriors offense expect a slow start from them, but that is the beauty of having an MVP front runner on your team, Curry is more than capable of shouldering the load and beating even the best crafted defenses with his smooth dribbling and shooting; especially in Oracle.
Prediction
After a slow start from the Warriors Curry leads them back into the game in the 3rd with another ridiculous display of shooting, however Horford’s control of the glass and Millsap’s ability to stretch the Warrior’s defense out prove too much to overcome in the end and the Hawks win by 6-10 points.