The Atlanta Hawks continue streaking after shutting down the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. The Eastern Conference team continues to be the surprise of the season as they sit just one game out of first place in their conference following the Toronto Raptors' loss to the Chicago Bulls. Winners of four straight and their last 13 of 14, the Hawks face another tough matchup as the Los Angeles Clippers come to town.
The Hawks are winning games by an average of 12.2 points. While a portion of the teams faced during the win streak have had losing records, the Hawks are coming off four wins against the Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. All four of those teams are above .500 making Atlanta look very impressive at the moment. Even more impressive is the fact that they have been playing without Jeff Teague as his backup, Dennis Schroder, continues to build his legacy.
Teague has been out the past three games with a hamstring strain that makes his return uncertain at the moment. The point guard currently leads the Hawks with 16.8 points and 7.0 assists, but has not been missed thanks to the rise of Schroder. The backup as put in 13.3 points and 7.3 assists per game in Teague's place. He had a career-high game against the Mavericks, putting up 22 points and six assists. Now Atlanta returns home where they have won seven straight, their longest home win streak since 2010.
The Clippers come to the south having dropped their last four of seven games. They lost their most recent game against the Hawks as Paul Millsap put up 25 points and nine rebounds. The Clippers struggles are mainly due to defense where they are allowing 106.0 points per game since that nine-game win streak. The team is coming off a loss to the Spurs where they allowed 125 points on 63.6 percent shooting. The Spurs also 13 of 23 from beyond the arc, something the Hawks are capable of replicating.
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