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This post is Free Plays + Pay Plays Enabled

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SteemSports presents: San Antonio Spurs vs Atlanta Hawks

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Game Preview

Atlanta Haws will be hosting San Antonio Spurs on the first day of 2017. What a way to start a year for a fan of NBA, watching those 2 teams fighting for the first victory of the year! I am pretty sure that this fact will add some spiciness to the game. Also, both teams are showing some play-off quality basketball, and this will guarantee good emotions for all spectators. Spurs are the favorites, but it also looks like Hawks’ guys have left a bad run behind and are ready to fight

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San Antonio Spurs

As a kid, I was not that supportive of Spurs, as I found the bad boys from Detroit Pistons to be more awesome, but times have changed, and I now believe that Spurs are the strongest franchise of the entire NBA. Why? They are focused on a team rather than individuality, and that makes everyone feel like a family and achieve greater results. Also – Greg Popovich.
Yes, men in black (The Admiral and Tim Duncan) are gone. Yup, even Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are not that important in this team anymore. However, they find some new veterans every year.

San Antonio Spurs are holding impressive 27-6 record so far, and they are only one win away from Golden State Warriors. Spurs do it all silently and delicate. They signed Pau Gasol (one more veteran to this team) during the off-season and made this team even more International. As a guy from Europe, I like it. Arguably 2 best European players (Parker and Gasol) are on the same team now, and Spurs is proving that European style of basketball, when you count on a whole team, but not on individual skills.

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Key player: Kawhi Leonard

We could talk about Gasol, Aldrige, and Parker as well. They are super important for this team and might even make it to All-Star games, but let’s be honest – a new era has come to San Antonio and it belongs to Kawhi.
What a humble guy Kawhi Leonard is. I truly admire that and it brings some delicacy to NBA. Kawhi does not talk to journalists a lot; he does not show emotions in on the court, but he does what he can do the best – plays basketball. Kawhi averages 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in this season so far. That is impressive in any team, but it is phenomenal in Spurs.

When everything is based on teamwork, Kawhi still finds a way to prove himself as one of the best players in the world. Why media don’t make a story out of it? Because Kawhi is not the guy, who chases fame. He is after a ring at the moment.

Fun fact – Kawhi Leonard defensive stats are the worst player in the whole Spurs team. If you would trust it, you would think that he sucks on defense, but he is actually just too good at it. Why his stats sucks? Well, other teams just use the tactic to leave one guy in the corner while attacking, so that Kawhi would not participate while defending. You kind of know that you are a prodigy when other teams are creating new tactics and are too afraid to face you.

Anyway, Kawhi could easily become an MVP this year if not for Russell Westbrook’s one man show. In my eyes, though, Kawhi will always remain as a little too underrated, because of his calm personality. That fits Spurs perfectly. That's what Duncan was. So, Kawhi is doing great in becoming the next symbol for the Spurs, and I think that will grab that MVP eventually.

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Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks started their season with an impressive 9-2 balance, and it looked like the off-season loss of Jeff Teague and Al Horford didn't do any damage to the team. However, November showed us that the damage was done after all. Atlanta fell into a deep hole with their 1-10 run, and it seemed like this train wreck can only get worse.

However, things switched again and Hawks are holding a decent 6-4 win ratio during their last 10 games, including victories against Raptors and OKC. That shows us a couple of things. Firstly, this year’s Hawks team is not constant. It might not hurt them so much during the regular season, but it will definitely be a factor during play-offs.

Also, even though, Hawks are 16-16 so far and standing 6th in The Eastern Conference, we must admit that this team can win against anyone on any given day. That makes this team really fun to watch.

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The key 3 for the Hawks:

So, the main reason why the Atlanta Hawks are still considered one of the main favorites to fight Cavaliers in the East Conference is their balance. There are five guys in the team, who are scoring at least 10 points per game. It means the opponents don't know what to expect from the Hawks. However, in my eyes, there are 3 players, who are a little bit more important than others.

Dwight Howard. This guy was the best center in the league 6 years ago. However, his career is not that fortunate after leaving Orlando. He failed to fit in with the Lakers, and he was not that old good Dwight Howard in the Rockets for the last 3 years. This season he joined Atlanta, and it looks like he is producing results at last. 14 points and 12.5 rebounds per game is solid, and he is the main big guy here.

Paul Millsap. Nothing much to say as this guy is the true leader of Hawks. It is his 4th season in the team, he knows all the schemes, and Coach Budenholzer trusts him fully.

Dennis Schroder. I remember watching this guy, when he was playing for the German International team back in 2014, and I wondered when he will get his shot at NBA. Well, it looks like he got it this year. Without Jeff Teague in the team, Shroder is the main PG now, and he is scoring almost 16 points, and dishes 6 assists per game. It is not the best numbers yet, but this guy is only 23!!!

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Prediction

Hawks might be showing better basketball, but Spurs is still a better team. In normal circumstances, I don’t see Hawks winning this game, but you cannot be 100 percent sure while judging one game. Anyway, I expect it to be a low scoring, defense orientated game, which Spurs will win by 8-15 points.

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Pay Plays

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Presenter: @writingamigo

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Editor: @cryptoiskey

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