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Spurs look for fourth straight win

Feb 21, 2007 - 3:47 PM San Antonio (36-18) at Atlanta (21-32) 7:00 pm EST

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Spurs may be turning the corner.

Riding a three-game winning streak, the Spurs will take on the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

After winning three championships in the last eight seasons, San Antonio has been the team to beat in the Western Conference for nearly a decade. This season, with Dallas and Phoenix atop the Western Conference standings, the Spurs have been an afterthought heading towards the postseason - especially with their inconsistent play early.

However, after wins over Eastern Conference contenders New Jersey and Detroit in its last two contests before the All-Star break, San Antonio made it three in a row with a 95-80 victory over Denver on Tuesday.

Holding down superstars Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, the Spurs used their vaunted defense to spark a win - much like they did during their championship seasons.

"Yeah, we're getting there," Spurs All-Star forward Tim Duncan said. "I hate to come out of the break and say something different about the team just on one win, but we are starting to turn the corner."

It was an anemic offensive performance by the Hawks, who struggled with star guard Joe Johnson scoring just nine points on 2-of-12 shooting in a 106-81 loss to Chicago on Tuesday.

Josh Childress scored 16 points off the bench to lead Atlanta. Marvin Williams and Josh Smith were the only other Atlanta players in double figures with 12 and 11, respectively.

The Hawks have lost 13 of their last 16 games against the Spurs.