Hawks welcome Trail Blazers to Philips Arena

Atlanta had lost its previous nine games to Portland before a 107-96 road win over the Trail Blazers on December 3. Joe Johnson scored 33 points, grabbed six rebounds and had six assists in the win, but won’t be on the floor tonight as he remains out indefinitely due to a bruised right calf.

The Hawks had a five-game home winning streak ended on Wednesday after a 91-83 setback to Miami. Josh Smith led the way for Atlanta with 27 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Marvin Williams added 16 points and 12 boards as the Hawks lost for the third time in four games and fell to 1-1 on a four- game homestand that wraps against Dallas on Sunday.

Atlanta is 15-19 as the host this season and is four games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Despite the setback in December, Portland has still won 13 of its last 16 meetings with Atlanta, including four in a row at Philips Arena. The team has been less successful against the rest of the NBA, though, as they are also four games out of a playoff spot but would have to jump over five teams to move into the eighth spot.

The Trail Blazers did manage to win their second game in a row on Thursday despite not having leading scorer and rebounder Zach Randolph, who was granted bereavement leave by the team on Monday. He is not expected to play tonight either.

Instead, rookie Brandon Roy picked up the missing scoring with 24 points to lift Portland over New York, 92-86. Jarrett Jack added 15 points and Jamaal Magloire netted 14 points and tied a season high with 16 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who kicked off a four-game road swing with the win and are 12-21 as the visitor this season.

Portland will also travel to Minnesota and Chicago on the trek.