The Atlanta Hawks extended their most recent home winning streak to seven games with a nice win against the rival Orlando Magic. In order to get No. 8, they're going to have to beat one of the worst road teams in the league. Winning is not a given, especially with how Atlanta has played against some of the dregs of the lead.
Joe Johnson and Al Horford look to lead the Hawks to yet another win when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night in Atlanta (7:00 PM, SportSouth, 97.9 FM). Atlanta enters its matchup with a pair of consecutive wins against the LeBron James-less Cavs. Cleveland has just plain stunk after their franchise player announced that he was "taking his services to South Beach."
The Cavs (8-20) have dropped 11 straight away from the Quicken Loans Arena and look to move within one of their unlucky streak of 13 straight road losses from Oct. 29-Dec. 15, 2003. The Cavs snapped a 10 game overall slide with a 109-102 overtime win over the New York Knicks on Saturday. However, they got back to their losing ways with a loss to the Utah Jazz.
Cleveland, which has surrendered an average of almost 103 points per game, is even worse on the highway, where they've allowed nearly 108 points per contest. They are 3-17 when allowing 100 or more points this season.
Atlanta (18-12) posted one of its best games of the year, outlasting the new-look Magic 91-81 at Philips Arena on Monday. Horford lead the way with 24 points and 11 boards while Johnson added 17 for the Hawks. Atlanta rebounded from a miserable game the day before in New Jersey, where they lost for the second time in as many games this season to the lowly New Jersey Nets.