Leaders of the Hawks:

So, the main reason why Atlanta Hawks is one of the 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 that opponents cannot know what to expect from 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 Lakers, and he was not that old good Dwight Howard in Rockets for last 3 years. This season he joined Atlanta, and it looks like he is producing... at last. 14 points and 12.5 rebounds per game is solid, and he is the main big guy up here.

Paul Milssap. 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 Shroder. I remember watching this guy, when he was playing for German International team back in 2014, and I wondered when will he 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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The Atlanta Hawks are a professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at Philips Arena.

The team's origins can be traced to the establishment of the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in 1946 in Moline, Illinois, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) and owned by Ben Kerner & Leo Ferris.In 1949, they joined the NBA as part of the merger between the NBL and the Basketball Association of America (BAA), and had Red Auerbach as coach briefly. In 1951, Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee, where they changed their name to the Hawks. Kerner and the team moved again in 1955 to St. Louis, where they won their only NBA championship in 1958 and qualified to play in the NBA Finals in 1957, 1960 and 1961. The Hawks played the Boston Celtics in all four of their trips to the NBA Finals. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968, when Kerner sold the franchise to Thomas Cousins and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders.

The Hawks currently own the second-longest drought (behind the Sacramento Kings) of not winning an NBA championship in 57 seasons. The franchise's lone NBA championship, as well as all four NBA Finals appearances, occurred when the team was based in St. Louis. Meanwhile, they went 48 years without advancing past the second round of the playoffs in any format, until finally breaking through in 2015. Much of the failure they've experienced in the postseason can be traced back to their poor history in the NBA draft. Since 1980, the Hawks have drafted only four players who have been chosen to play in an NBA All-Star Game (Doc Rivers, Kevin Willis, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague). Dominique Wilkins was actually selected by the Utah Jazz and traded to the Hawks a few months after the draft. Horford and Teague are the only All-Star Hawks to have been drafted since Willis was selected in 1984, and Horford is also the only first-rounder the Hawks selected in their nine-year playoff drought to play in an NBA All-Star Game.

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Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder is coming to this game in a good shape. They have won their last 4 games, and it looks like this team has found their winning character again. Russell Westbrook is on fire... Basically, if Thunder will advance to play-offs, he will be MVP without a question. And I can tell you this, early in December. That's how good he is. So, Thunders are currently 6th in the Western Conference with 12-8, and currently looking strong.

Leaders of Oklahoma City Thunder:

Well, if we are talking about leaders of Oklahoma City Thunder, it is pretty straightforward - Russell Westbrook. The guy is playing explosive basketball and he is averaging triple double per game! That is sick on so many levels that I cannot process it in my head. Also, Westbrook's team is winning and that makes it even better. The last guy who averaged triple double in December was legendary Oscar Robertson. Nuff said.

Of course, there are other guys as well. Victor Oladipo is solid second option in offense, he is playing consistent, and better with every day. Steven Adams has found his scoring game, averages over 10 points, and is playing the main big guy of this OKC team. Also, other big guys like Kanter, Sabonis, and Lauvergne are always waiting for their moments, and usually capitalize on them.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder is an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays its home games at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder's NBA Development League affiliate is the Oklahoma City Blue, which it owns. The Thunder is the only team in the major professional North American sports leagues based in the state of Oklahoma.

The team was originally established as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team that joined the NBA for the 1967–68 season. The SuperSonics relocated in 2008 after a settlement was reached between the ownership group led by Clay Bennett and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington following a lawsuit. In Seattle, the SuperSonics qualified for the NBA playoffs 22 times, won their division six times, and won the 1979 NBA Championship. In Oklahoma City, the Thunder qualified for their first playoff berth during the 2009–10 season. They followed that success by winning their first division title as the Thunder in the 2010–11 season and their first Western Conference championship as the Thunder in the 2011–12 season, appearing in the NBA Finals for the fourth time in franchise history and first since 1996, when the club was based in Seattle.