[8:10 PM] Hawks @ Thunder

Who will WIN this matchup?

Atlanta Hawks (13-14)

@ Oklahoma City Thunder (16-11)

 

• The line for this game Thunder by 2.5 points.

• Russell Westbrook is sick of talking about triple-doubles, but not so sick of racking them up on the court and leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to wins. Westbrook will try to follow up his latest statistical marvel and lead the Thunder to another win when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

• Atlanta is giving guard Tim Hardaway Jr. more playing time and a chance to work with the starting lineup, and he is responding with an average of 16.3 points in the last four games. Hardaway gives the team another athletic wing but is not doing much to help a defense that has drifted into the bottom third of the league in defensive field-goal percentage while letting opponents go off at 45.7 percent. The bright spot for the team continues to be center Dwight Howard, who collected 10 points and 23 rebounds in his third straight double-double on Saturday.

• Westbrook’s 22 assists set a franchise record and helped Oklahoma City shoot 50.6 percent from the field in Saturday’s win. Center Steven Adams scored 19 points and was on the receiving end of Westbrook’s final assist of the night, which came off a “Shammgod” crossover popularized by former Providence College star God Shammgod that brought the Thunder crowd to its feet.

• Thunder G Victor Oladipo (wrist) missed the last three games and is questionable for Monday.

• Hawks G/F Kent Bazemore scored 17 points in 30 minutes on Saturday after totaling 12 points in his first two games back from a knee injury.

• Westbrook collected 32 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in a 102-99 win at Atlanta on Dec. 5.

 

StreakSmarts Pick: Oklahoma City Thunder

Confidence: 5/10

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