The surging San Antonio Spurs aim for their ninth straight win over the Atlanta Hawks when they travel to Atlanta on Sunday. The Hawks already have clinched the Southeast Division title and are closing in on locking up the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but they haven't beaten San Antonio since March 21, 2010. The Spurs have won two straight and nine of their last 11 and are tied for sixth in the West.
Atlanta coughed up a fourth-quarter lead — a rare occurrence this season — in a 123-115 loss at Oklahoma City on Friday to finish 3-3 on its West Coast road trip. "Not the way we wanted to finish the road trip, but we have a chance to go home now," center Al Horford told reporters. The Hawks are an Eastern Conference-best 30-4 at home, while the Spurs are a pedestrian 17-17 on the road.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), SportSouth (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE SPURS (43-25): San Antonio has seen a bit of a changing of the guard with Kawhi Leonard (15.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 steals) asserting himself as the leader at both ends of the floor while the Spurs' aging veterans take on smaller roles. Stars Tony Parker (15 points, five assists) and Tim Duncan (14.2 points, 9.4 rebounds) still put up solid numbers, and sharpshooter Danny Green (12 points) has developed into a more complete player. Veteran guard Manu Ginobili (11.4 points) will miss his fourth straight game with an ankle injury.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (53-16): Atlanta is trying to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season, but the Hawks have won five straight at home. Forward Paul Millsap (16.9 points, 7.9 rebounds) and point guard Jeff Teague (16.5 points, seven assists) lead the way as all five starters average double-digit scoring. Kyle Korver (12.4 points) has missed the past three games with a broken nose, though, and reserves Thabo Sefolosha (calf) and Mike Scott (toe) remain sidelined.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Hawks are 21-7 against the Western Conference, one shy of the franchise's most wins against the West since joining the Eastern Conference in 1970-71.
2. The Spurs have made 20 or more free throws in a season-high three consecutive games.
3. Atlanta is 25-3 when it records at least 10 steals and has averaged 19.2 fast-break points over its past five games.