The Atlanta Hawks are heading to the highway to ring in the New Year. Their first stop on the four-game trip will be in Oklahoma.
Josh Smith and Al Horford will look to continue to put up solid numbers when the club takes on the Oklahoma City Thunder on the last day of the year (8:00 PM, SportSouth, 97.9 FM). This should be an exciting game between two teams that have very similar records.
The Hawks are 21-13 while New Orleans is 22-11.
Atlanta looks to figure out a way to win on the highway, a place that has been less than hospitable to them as of late. The Hawks -- winners of nine straight at Philips Arena -- have lost six of their last eight on the road. They have had difficulty scoring away from Georgia, posting less than 85 points per game over their last eight games.
However, Atlanta did solve its offensive woes, posting more than 100 points for the first time in 11 games with a 103-93 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. Smith had 22 points and 10 rebounds while Horford added 21 and 15 for Atlanta.
The Thunder is trying to end the year with a modest two-game winning streak after posting a 114-93 win over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday. Oklahoma City forced a season-best 23 turnovers in that one in which Kevin Durant posted 27 points before taking the bench in the fourth quarter.
Atlanta may be without the services of Marvin Williams in this one. Williams did not travel with the team to Oklahoma and had an MRI on his bruised back instead. Williams left the game vs. Golden State after crashing to the Philips Arena floor trying to steal a pass.
The Hawks head to California to take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday before finishing their four-game trip with games against the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz.