NBA: Golden State Warriors at Atlanta Hawks

As a fan of this beautiful sport of basketball, today is one of those days that are special. A lot of teams in action tonight and more importantly a lot of good match-ups. However, there is one game that stood above the rest, which included the two best teams in the NBA.

The West was being represented by the Golden State Warriors and they traveled to face the Atlanta Hawks, owners of the best record in the NBA. This was the regular season, but this game also had some bragging rights, who is the best team in the NBA?

1st Quarter

The home crowd was into it to start the game and the Hawks fed off the energy. They got off to a 7-2 start, but Klay Thompson was feeling it to start the game, so he helped the Warriors even the game at 9 with a tough triple from the corner. Curry was held scoreless for the first eight minutes of the game and counting, but the game was tied and no team had made a real push. Curry finally got his first basket, a triple of course and the Warriors had the biggest lead of the game, five. It didn’t last long, Kyle Korver was quick to knock down a three and the game was down to one possession. The Warriors didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but they played excellent defense, which is why they had a 25-21 lead going into the second quarter.

2nd Quarter

Leandro Barbosa has improved recently and he knocked down a triple to start the second. The second unit turned it up a notch and increased their lead to eight, but former Warrior Kent Bazemore was 3-for-3 from long distance, otherwise the Warriors would have a much bigger lead. The lead didn’t last long, the Warriors got sloppy and they gave up a bucket to Dennis Schroader, lost the inbounds pass, which then led to a Korver three. Game is tied. Defense was being played at a high level and both offenses were struggling to score the rock. Both teams traded baskets, but the Warriors should have the lead, but they gave away the ball too many times. Surprisingly, the Warriors had not shot a single free throw the entire half until the final seconds of the first half. The game is tied at 51 going into the break.

3rd Quarter

Harrison Barnes got things started for the Dubs in the second half, but somebody forgot to tell the rest of the team to show up. The Hawks came out firing on all cylinders and they went on a 9-0 run, giving them a seven point lead early in the third. Bogut finally responded with a basket, but the Hawks came right back with another triple. It was all Hawks in the first several minutes. Two triples from Curry and Thompson cut the Atlanta lead to four, but they had all the momentum. The Splash Brothers were not going to let the Hawks pull away and they hit 11 points in a flash of an eye and the game was tied once again. This was a heavy weigh championship bout and each team was absorbing the blows and coming right back. The Hawks responded with back-to-back triples and they took a four point lead into the final period.

4th Quarter

The Hawks found their rhythm on offense and they started knocking down some shots. Surprisingly, the Hawks looked like the Warriors, they kept knocking down threes and they quickly built up their lead. They had a 10 point lead with about nine minutes left in the ball game and Phillips Arena was in a frenzy. The Warriors have been here before, so you expect them to make one last push, well, it didn’t take long. The Warriors finally started hitting some baskets and the lead was cut to three. Here’s a shocker, the Hawks came back and responded with a few buckets themselves, just like they have the entire game. Warriors lose 124-116.

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