Thunder at Hawks
The Oklahoma City Thunder repeatedly said they weren't worried during a three-game losing streak, stating that it was a long season and things would soon turn in their favor. The Thunder proved as much with an impressive victory on Saturday and will try to keep rolling when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
Oklahoma City capped the three-game slide with a 154-147 double-overtime loss at San Antonio on Thursday but bounced right back in another chance against the Spurs at home on Saturday, earning a 122-112 victory. The Thunder enter the week in third place in a packed Western Conference and will play three of the next four on the road, where they own a 12-10 record. The Hawks are trying to work their way through a difficult portion of the schedule and followed a 123-121 win at the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday with a 133-114 setback against the Milwaukee Bucks at home on Sunday. Atlanta played Indiana, Milwaukee (twice), Toronto and Philadelphia in the last eight games and gets a visit from the Boston Celtics on Saturday after wrapping up with Oklahoma City.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), FS Oklahoma
ABOUT THE THUNDER (26-16): Oklahoma City was able to snap the slide on Saturday thanks in large part to the effort of the reserves. Patrick Paterson knocked down 5-of-7 from the floor and Abdel Nader hit all six of his shots while point guard Dennis Schroder went 8-of-17 from the floor to snap a string of six straight games failing to hit at least 40 percent of his shots. "He really came out in the second half and certainly played much closer to who he is as a player," Thunder coach Billy Donovan told reporters of Schroder. "I give him a lot of credit because that's a skill, a gift, to be able to shift after halftime and, to your point, play as well as he did offensively."
ABOUT THE HAWKS (13-30): The bright spot from Sunday's setback was the play of rookie point guard Trae Young, who poured in 26 points while grabbing a season-high 11 rebounds. Young, 20, reached the 20-point plateau for the first time in seven games this month in the loss, and fellow rookie guard Kevin Huerter is working on his consistency as well. Huerter broke out for 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting in the win over the 76ers but slumped to 11 points on 3-of-9 against Milwaukee.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder SF Paul George scored 18 points on Saturday, snapping a string of 16 straight games scoring at least 20.
2. Hawks PF John Collins went 6-of-17 from the floor Sunday after going a combined 35-of-55 in the four previous contests.
3. Schroder, who spent the first five seasons of his career with the Hawks, scored 18 points in a 124-109 win over Atlanta on Nov. 30.