Golden State @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 6, 2017 ) Golden State 119, Atlanta 111

The Golden State Warriors will try to finish off a perfect road trip and extend their winning streak to five games with a visit to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. After dropping four of their final five road games prior to the All-Star break, the Warriors knocked off New York and Washington to begin this trip and they remain a half-game back of first-place Houston in the Western Conference.

The Warriors used their trademark dominant third quarter to slip past the Wizards 109-101 on Wednesday while improving to 21-3 against the East. "Mainly fiery halftime speeches from the coach -- Knute Rockne style, 'win one for (assistant) Ron Adams' type speeches," coach Steve Kerr sarcastically told reporters of the 27-14 margin in the third. "No, it's not about adjustments. It's about our guys, I think, just wanting to make a push coming out of the break. I can't really explain it other than throwing that at you." The Hawks had a big third quarter of their own in a home win over Indiana on Wednesday by producing a 30-15 advantage in the period. The victory snapped Atlanta's four-game slide and lifted the squad out of the cellar in the East.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), FS Southeast (Atlanta)

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (48-14): Golden State will play eight of its next 12 at home after this trip, which produced a bonding opportunity prior to the win over the Wizards as the defending champs spent a day at a museum with school children instead of the traditional visit to the White House. "Rhetoric and hate and just general disdain from the top, trying to be divisive and whatnot, has had the opposite reaction from what it intended," star guard Stephen Curry told reporters while alluding to his opinions on President Trump, who rescinded the invitation to the Warriors after Curry indicated a desire to skip out if he was elected. "We've done our part, I think, to try to further that message." Curry did his part on the court with 25 points against the Wizards and he is averaging 27.8 while shooting 51.2 percent from 3-point range since the All-Star break.

ABOUT THE HAWKS (19-43): Amid league-wide talk of teams tanking, Atlanta - a prime candidate to try to improve its draft status - instead put forth a spirited effort Wednesday behind Dennis Schroder, who scored seven of his 14 points in the closing moments and finished with five steals in the 107-102 win. "I put the team on my back and it started with defense," Schroder told the media. "I think that everybody sees that and everybody played with me. It was one of our best games defensively." The Hawks caused the Pacers to turn it over 24 times and entered Thursday's action tied with Oklahoma City for first in forced turnovers (16).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Warriors SF Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points at Washington and averages 27.1 on 52.9 percent shooting on the road.

2. Hawks PF John Collins had a team-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting against Indiana.

3. Golden State swept two meetings last season and claimed 10 of the last 11.

PREDICTION: Warriors 112, Hawks 103