Trail Blazers at Hawks
THE STORY: Al Horford's season-ending pectoral injury will likely catch up to the Atlanta Hawks at some point, but that hasn't been the case so far. The Hawks go for their fourth straight win without Horford when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. Atlanta has beaten Charlotte, Minnesota and Toronto, but the Trail Blazers are the best team the Hawks will face since their star center went down. “We’ve played well the last few games, but coming in here, Portland is a really good team,” Hawks guard Jeff Teague said. "They’ll play hard. We’ll just have to stay together.” The Trail Blazers broke a three-game losing streak with an 84-77 win in New Orleans on Monday. Forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half when Portland shot 54 percent from the field and took control of the game. His teammates have come to expect such performances from Aldridge, Portland’s leading scorer. “He took over the game,” forward Nicolas Batum said. “That’s why he’s our go-to guy.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet Northwest (Portland), Sports South (Atlanta), ESPN
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (8-5): Portland is making its fourth stop of a six-game road trip that lasts 11 days. The Trail Blazers were blown out by 16 points in the first game of the trip by San Antonio before losing by two points the following night in Houston. With games in Toronto and Detroit later in the week, Portland can finish the trip with a winning record if it beats Atlanta. A strong trip will be important for the Trail Blazers as they try to keep pace in the powerful Northwest Division.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (10-4): Atlanta is establishing a strong home-court advantage. The Hawks' only home loss in seven games came to Miami in triple overtime on Jan. 5. The success at Philips Arena continued in Monday's 93-84 win over Toronto. Josh Smith scored 28 points and had 15 rebounds, a season high, while Joe Johnson added 27 points. The Hawks never trailed after taking the lead midway through the first quarter. Marvin Williams is averaging 6.5 points in two games since returning from a sprained ankle that forced him to miss three games.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Hawks guard Tracy McGrady was scoreless with no rebounds and three assists in eight minutes Monday. He had missed the previous three games because of back spasms.
2. Portland center Marcus Camby has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle and is listed as day-to-day.
3. Atlanta has won five straight in the series. Portland's last victory came on Feb. 20, 2009. The Trail Blazers haven't beaten the Hawks in Atlanta since Jan. 21, 2008.