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Warriors begin long road stretch against Hawks

Mar 4, 2008 - 2:57 PM Golden State (36-22) at Atlanta (25-33) 7:00 pm EST

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Perhaps no two teams offer a better example of the disparity between the Eastern and Western Conferences than the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors begin a four-game, five-day road trip on Tuesday when they meet the Atlanta Hawks.

The Warriors, who currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, hold just a 1 1/2-game lead over the Denver Nuggets (35-24) despite being 14 games over .500. Meanwhile, the Hawks are eight games under the break-even mark but only trail the New Jersey Nets (26-33) by a game for the eight-seed in the East.

Golden State concluded a long stretch of home games on Sunday with their 110-104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The Warriors played 13 of their last 16 games at Oracle Arena - going 12-4 - but will play 13 of their next 19 away from home.

The Warriors, just 15-12 on the road, will need to ready for the Hawks, who have won 13 of their last 19 home games.

Atlanta, which has won two of its last three since dropping eight of nine, lost 98-88 on Sunday to Boston. Josh Smith had 22 points and rookie Al Horford added 14 and 11 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double.