There are lots of cliche phrases in the NBA, especially around games in October not meaning as much as games that will come later. But when you get to the later part of the season and playoff races begin to heat up and tighten, it is natural to look back and wish you had won some games against teams that are either short-handed or not as talented as you are.
Which brings us to tonight's game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets. Even if they were fully healthy, I don't think Charlotte is nearly as good as Atlanta, but they definitely are not as good as the Hawks when they are missing Coby White and Kon Knueppel. Both players are going to miss tonight's game, and Atlanta needs to take advantage of that opportunity to get another divisional win.
When looking at this game tonight, what are the burning questions that Atlanta needs to answer?
1. Will Jalen Johnson have a bounce-back performance?
If you are just glancing at the box score, you might think that Jalen Johnson had a solid performance against a tough Orlando Magic defense. But if you watched the game, you saw some of the same elements that made Johnson struggle so much during the postseason.
Johnson was very inefficient in the win over Orlando and battled foul trouble, some of which were legitimate foul calls, others you could certainly argue about. He shot 7-for-19 from the field and missed all four of his three point attempts while also having a couple of turnovers.
When you finish a game with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists and it is considered disappointing, you know you are considered one of the better players in the league. Atlanta won on Wednesday in spite of Johnson though.
2. Can the Hawks win a tough rebounding battle?
When the Hawks have Onyeka Okongwu, Jock Landale, Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson all available, they are a very good rebounding team in the NBA.
But they are not a big team and the Hornets have some size on them with Naz Reid, Moussa Diabate, and Ryan Kalkbrenner. Winning the possession battle against a high-octane offense is key, but it won't be easy to do so for the Hawks tonight.
3. Will Atlanta win the turnover battle again?
Atlanta forced 20 turnovers from the Magic on Wednesday and turned them into 24 points. It was one of the key elements of the Hawks winning that game and now they are going against a team that is missing two of its most important players and a team that comitted 20 turnovers in their win over Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Atlanta has three stifling perimeter defenders in Daniels, Alexander-Walker, and Lu Dort and they are going to put a lot of pressure on the Hornets ball handlers. Even without Coby White and Kon Knueppel, Charlotte can still score in bunches and forcing turnovers is one way of limiting them from doing that. Will the Hawks be able to do that?
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