Don't look now, but the Atlanta Hawks have a chance to move to 3-0 tonight if they can find a way to defeat the Houston Rockets.
Atlanta took care of business on Friday night, winning by 47 points against the Charlotte Hornets and getting their second win of the year in as many tries. Being able to win on the road is important and getting two road wins against divisional opponents is huge to start the year.
But tonight is going to be the biggest test of the season for the Hawks. While the focus in the Western Conference (deservingly) goes to San Antonio and Oklahoma City, the Rockets are not to be forgotten. They are one of the top defensive teams in the league and one of the deepest as well.
So what are the storylines to watch for tonight's game?
1. First back-to-back of the season
This applies to both teams. The Hawks had a breezy win over the Hornets on Friday night, while the Rockets had to go to the wire with the Spurs. That slight advantage is going to belong to the Hawks, as they did not have any player on the court for 30 or more minutes. Not only that, but Onyeka Okongwu, CJ McCollum, Aaron Wiggins, Lu Dort, and Jock Landale played 21 minutes or fewer.
Given those factors and the fact that it is early in the season, I would expect the Hawks to be fine, but playing two NBA games in two days is not easy. Will any team play with energy early, only to fade once the game gets into the second half? That is not uncommon on back-to-backs.
2. Hawks Offense vs Rockets Defense
With all due respect to the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Hornets, this is going to be the best defense that the Hawks have faced this season.
We saw in the playoffs that when faced with an elite defense that has multiple wings that can play both ways, the Hawks struggled. Houston is going to test them in a lot of ways tonight, with Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Marcus Smart, Tari Eason, and others making life difficult for the Hawks. Houston is a team that loves to try, and force turnovers and take advantage of that and Atlanta can't let them win that battle.
Jalen Johnson in particular has struggled in these types of matchups before and the Hawks need the best version of him if they want to win tonight.
3. Physicality vs Physicality
All offseason, the Hawks have talked about how the playoff loss to the Knicks emboldened them to get a tougher, more physical version of their team together. Whether it was by the players already on the roster getting better or by Aaron Wiggins and Lu Dort bringing some of it from their time with Oklahoma City, the Hawks have built their team to be defensive minded and physical.
Tonight is going to be the first real test of that physical play. The Rockets play great defense and with the duo of Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams, the Hawks could have their hands full on the glass. Houston coach Ime Udoka always has his teams ready to play and play well on defense and this is a chance for the Hawks to go against one of the most talented teams in the NBA.
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