The Atlanta Hawks are on the verge of breaking a franchise-long win streak of 14 games, but it will not be an easy task to do so. The Hawks continue to shock the league as the wins pile and the team holds a comfortable lead in the Eastern Conference. However, win 15 will not be an easy one to achieve as the Oklahoma City Thunder, winner of four straight, come in looking to upset the Hawks on their home court.
Atlanta currently has the most wins in the NBA with 35 while aiming to get 15 in a row, something that has not happened since the 1993 season. The Hawks are thriving, improving to 30-1 when leading by at least 10 points after a 110-91 win over the Indiana Pacers. Not to mention, the Hawks have won 13 of their past 14 home games while being 14-5 against teams currently sitting above the .500 mark.
The biggest shock for the league is Atlanta has done so without a true All-Star on the roster. It is likely there will not be a player from Atlanta on the All-Star team this year as the East will be coached by the Hawks' Mike Budenholzer. He will be the first Atlanta coach to lead an All-Star squad since Lenny Wilkens. Instead, the Hawks are benefitting from a healthy Al Horford, sharp shooter while DeMarre Carroll is simply hoping to play two seasons for the same team, something that will be a first in his six-year career.
Make no mistake though, the Hawks are preparing to face a very talented Oklahoma City Thunder team that are fresh off a dominating win over the Washington Wizards where Russell Westbrook had 31 points and Kevin Durant added 34. They have won the first three games of a five-game road trip and intend on making it four. Both Durant and Westbrook are healthy and ready to take on an Atlanta team that is no longer getting overlooked by their opponents.
The Hawks are currently 10-2 against the West, but stopping Durant and Westbrook at the same time could be a tough task. Durant has averaged 37.3 points against the Hawks in their last three games and doing that again could end the win streak for Atlanta.
