Warriors vs. Hawks: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season
The Atlanta Hawks made their case as the best team in the NBA on Friday night, beating the Golden State Warriors at home, 124-116.
Atlanta and Golden State entered the game as the leaders of the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively. The two teams had combined to lose just 17 games all season.
To put into perspective just how rare Friday's matchup was, only once before in NBA history have two teams with such impressive records met this late into the season, per NBA on ESPN:
"It's a fun game," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said before the game, per Cory McCartney of Fox Sports South. "It doesn't really mean a whole lot if we win or we lose, in terms of the big picture. Both teams are having great seasons, and one loss, one win, I'm not sure what that means. But it's a great test, and it's a great challenge."
While Kerr's assessment was on the money, Hawks fans and players alike will savor this victory for at least the next few days.
Atlanta's win typified its team-based approach. Seven different players scored in double figures. Jeff Teague led all Hawks scorers with 23 points. Paul Millsap was right behind him with 21 points of his own.
Al Horford's contributions can't be forgotten, either. He was a massive presence on the glass, bringing down 14 rebounds to go along with his 12 points.
The bulk of Golden State's scoring was shared between backcourt duo Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who had 26 and 29 points, respectively. Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green were the only other Warriors players to score in double figures.
The Hawks played from behind for most of the first half, but that's not to say the first two quarters were one-sided toward Golden State. Just when the Warriors threatened to build upon their slim lead, Atlanta would get key buckets, generally from either Kyle Korver or Kent Bazemore.
One such shot came with a little over eight-and-a-half minutes in the second quarter and Golden State up by five. A Dennis Schroder floater landed to cut the Warriors' lead to 34-31. Horford promptly stole the inbounds, and two passes later, Korver tied the game with one of his game-high five three-pointers.
Bazemore's performance was also big for the Hawks. Golden State had the edge personnel-wise in terms of bench depth, but the 25-year-old poured in three three-pointers in the first half to help negate that advantage. Basketball Insiders' Nate Duncan provided his insight on comparing the reserves on both teams, including Bazemore:
Three-point shooting was one of the bigger differences between the two teams in the first half.
Atlanta did a great job of limiting Golden State on the perimeter. The Warriors entered Friday night leading the league in three-point shooting percentage but could only manage to go 4-of-13 in the first half from downtown.
What made matters worse was Golden State's inability to get to the foul line. Its first free throws of the game came with one-tenth of a second left in the first half, per GSWStats:
Curry really struggled early, missing four of his five three-point opportunities and scoring seven points in the first half. Thompson helped to cover for his fellow "Splash Brother," leading all scorers with 13 points heading in to the break with the two teams knotted at 52 apiece.
The Hawks were a healthier 7-of-17 from three-point range through the first half, with Korver's 11 points leading the way. Although Atlanta enjoyed success from deep, it struggled inside, as Horford went 1-of-4 and scored just four points.
As Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, Atlanta's offense was at times a bit too reliant on the three-pointer:
The Hawks would likely need a more balanced attack if they hoped to keep pace with the Warriors in the second half.
Atlanta couldn't have asked for a better start to the second half. Horford's layup sparked a 12-1 run that saw the Hawks take a 64-55 lead.
From that point forward, the two teams' roles reversed. Where the Warriors were often defending a lead in the first half, they were instead playing from behind in the second. Golden State kept the game close through the third and fourth quarters, but it couldn't find the breakthrough to take the lead back.
Millsap gave Atlanta a 70-60 edge with a little over seven minutes left in the third quarter, but back-to-back threes from Thompson and Curry kept Golden State well within striking distance.
Curry was much better in the second half, using the tiniest of openings to claw away at Atlanta's lead, as noted by Matt Moore of CBSSports.com:
"Teague fell asleep for 1.5 seconds. Curry got him up in the air, Teague recovered to contest sideways. SPLASH.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 7, 2015"
The Warriors simply couldn't string together enough shots to overturn their deficit, however. A 12-4 run in the fourth quarter put Atlanta ahead by 11 with 3:15 left in the game, which all but put the result out of Golden State's reach.
Thompson and Curry couldn't do it all on their own offensively, and the team couldn't consistently stop Atlanta on the defensive end.
Putting the Hawks on the line to close out the game didn't work, either. ESPN.com's Tom Haberstroh felt the conclusion was a bit anticlimactic given everything that preceded it:
It's hard to be impressed by Atlanta anymore given everything it's done over the past month, but Friday's win was a major statement. Whatever lingering doubts Atlanta's critics had should be long gone by now.
The Hawks will look to build on this when they face off with the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. After that, they play the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics to wrap up a three-game road trip.
Golden State has a relatively easy three-game stretch ahead, with the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Timberwolves all on the docket over the next five days.
