After getting a win on the road last night against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Atlanta Hawks look to make it two in a row this evening when they host the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets are also on the second half of a back-to-back, as they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
This is the first matchup of the two division rivals this season. Charlotte had a promising start to the season, but they are 4-12 entering this game, and it looks like another season outside of the play-in tournament race for the Hornets.
The game is nearing tipoff and both teams just announced their starting lineups:
Hawks
G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G- Dyson Daniels
F- Zaccharie Risacher
F- Jalen Johnson
C- Onyeka Okongwu
Hornets
G- Collin Sexton
G- Kon Knueppel
F- Sion James
F- Miles Bridges
C- Mason Plumlee
Looking deeper at the Hawks
In our game preview, our own Rohan Raman took a deeper look at the Hawks advanced numbers:
“The Hawks’ offense wasn’t the reason for their loss against the Spurs, but they got to redeem themselves by taking care of business against the Pelicans. Accordingly, they’ve been able to stay float on offense. They’re 18th in points, 8th in FG%, 9th in 3P%, 18th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (28th in OREB), 3rd in assists and 13th in turnovers per game. They’re 16th in offensive rating on the year, but these games are still a solid supporting argument in having the offense run through multiple players rather than solely Trae Young.
Atlanta’s defense is largely trending downwards, but they had a nice performance against New Orleans to get them back to a reasonable level. On a per-game basis, Atlanta ranks 18th in points allowed, 8th in FG% allowed, 7th in 3P% allowed, 23rd in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals and 7th in blocks. They’re 15th in defensive rating on the year, which is solid even if it’s not an elite placement.
The Charlotte Hornets hit the jackpot last season by drafting Kon Knueppel from Duke, but the overall offense still lacks a ton of cohesion They’re 20th in points, 21st in FG%, 19th in 3P%, 6th in FT%, 8th in rebounds (8th in OREB), 30th in assists and 22nd in turnovers per game. That may not be enough in order to get a win over Atlanta.
The Hornets’ defense is still struggling to find its way. They’re 23rd in points allowed, 28th in FG% allowed, 30th in 3P% allowed, 2nd in rebounds allowed, 28th in steals and 16th in blocks. It’s the second straight matchup for Atlanta against a fairly weak defense, so it is reasonable to expect that the Hawks will be in control for most of the game.”
