OKC Thunder finish road trip vs. home sizzling Hawks – preview

The OKC Thunder followed up a strong week regressing to the mean with a 1-3 record. The revenge match versus the Rockets was successful but three losses to the Heat, Bucks, and Celtics brought everyone back down to earth.

Although the Thunder lost those three matches the youngsters never conceded as they forced both the Bucks and Celtics to play to the final horn.

That is what we can likely expect much of this season. It’s hard to be disappointed in our Thunder because of their grittiness and fight. When you watch other teams from the lower tier it’s rare to see this level of fight, let alone in every game.

That stick-to-it-tive-ness might not translate to wins at the moment but it will pay dividends in the future once the team is ready to contend again.

OKC Thunder face Hawks squad who feasts at home

This week the Thunder will play three matches and the first team on the docket is the Atlanta Hawks and native son Trae Young.

While the Hawks enter with a record (8-9) featuring two additional wins and one less loss than the Thunder they are beginning to turn things around. The variance in how or rather where they win is clearly tied to the home venue – the State Farm Arena.

Eight of the Hawks’ nine losses occurred on the road while seven of their eight wins came on the home court. The single road win was against the Pelicans and the single home loss was achieved by the Jazz.

This is the final game of the Hawks five-game homestand where they’ve collected wins versus Bucks, Magic, Celtics, and Hornets. They’ll be tested in the next schedule sement with 13 of 22 games on the road but for the moment the Thunder will be in tough facing the Hawks on the hardcourt they dominate.