Preseason Game Preview: Atlanta Hawks vs. San Antonio Spurs

Atlanta Hawks @ San Antonio Spurs

AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
October 22, 2014, 7:30 PM Spurs Time
RADIO: 1200 AM WOAI

As many basketball pundits have noted, the Atlanta Hawks were a key injury away from being a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference last season. The Hawks somehow managed to hold onto a playoff spot despite a sub-.500 record because. With an improved Eastern Conference, teams probably won't be able to sneak into the playoffs with such a poor record, but the Hawks shouldn't be too concerned if Horford can safely nurse his shoulder/pectoral injuries into the postseason.

The major additions for Atlanta this summer (aside from Horford's return) were Thabo Sefolosha, Adreian Payne (with their 15^th pick in the draft), and Kent Bazemore. If Kent Bazemore is your most impactful offseason acquisition... well that's a pretty boring summer. Thabo is no longer the player who once stopped Tony Parker in the 2012 Western Conference Finals, and Adreian Payne will one day be a serviceable role player.

So far, Coach Bud has followed his mentor in giving his main players some heavy preseason minutes so far, including 38 and 39 minutes for Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver respectively in their Monday matchup with the Hornets. If the last two games are any indication, Pop has now forgone this strategy, opting to finalize his benchwarmers and D-Leaguers.

I'd expect bigger minutes for Kyle Anderson, JaMychal Green, Josh Davis, and Bryce Cotton over these last few preseason games to help PATFO best decide where to best allocate them over the regular season. This might not be pretty, but it sure is fun to see what some of the young'uns have got.

Preseason Game 6
	@
Atlanta Hawks		San Antonio Spurs
October, 22, 2014
AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
7:30 PM CDT
TV: N/A Radio: WOAI 1200AM
Starters
Jeff Teague	PG	Tony Parker
Kyle Korver	SG	Danny Green
DeMarre Carroll	SF	Kyle Anderson
Paul Millsap	PF	Boris Diaw
Al Horford	C	Tim Duncan

Game prediction: Spurs by 5.

As always Tony must dominate Fisher, and you can get your San Antonio Spurs tickets from Daniel Farias with Spurs Sports & Entertainment: