So far, so good for the Atlanta Hawks.
While the Hawks did eventually seperate themselves from the Magic in their season opener, Orlando got back into the game. Atlanta got that win by seperating themselves with better execution in the fourth quarter, exerting themselves in the paint (60 points in the paint to Orlando's 50) and killing the Magic on the perimeter by canning 14 of their 36 attempts from deep.
The Hornets never even stood a chance. In the 128-81 victory, Atlanta set a franchise record for their margin of victory. They forced a whopping 27 turnovers, held Charlotte to 22% shooting from deep and showed better cohesion on both ends as a team with 37 assists to the Hornets' 21 and only turning it over 12 times. There's not much to criticize here - the Hawks comprehensively dominated their opponent.
Tonight's game is going to be a bigger test. Houston's 2-0 and they're coming off a big win over the defending Western Conference champions in the San Antonio Spurs. The return of Fred Van Vleet's passing has injected some creativity into a previously stale offense, Kevin Durant remains excellent and Amen Thompson's making a claim for the title of best defender in the NBA after his game-sealing block on Victor Wembanyama.
Yet, the Hawks have every reason to feel confident. Dyson Daniels is right up there with Thompson after his seven-steal performance, the bench's gotten better after Aaron Wiggins' red-hot start to the year and Nickeil Alexander-Walker's continued to show that his MIP award last year was deserved. Jalen Johnson's conducting this offense at a fantastic level, but he's gotten help in that department from exiciting rookie guard Kingston Flemings. Flemings dished out eight assists off the bench and he continues to look like a player that makes winning basketball plays.
It'll be exciting to see how it all comes together tonight.
Game Preview
Containing Kevin Durant
Stopping Kevin Durant is one of the most difficult tasks in basketball. He usually punishes single coverage and doubling him frees up opportunities for teammates to make plays. Against San Antonio, it worked to perfection as Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson both scored 20+ points while being efficient from the field.
Atlanta has an advantage in this area. From 2024-2026, Lu Dort has guarded Kevin Durant on 213 possessions per Databallr. In that time frame, Dort has guarded Durant on the sixth-highest number of possessions relative to any other player. He's very familiar with the KD assignment and he's done it well. Durant's averaging 18.3 points and 2.5 turnovers on 63 TS%, well below his usual career averages.
The Hawks have the advatange of being able to stick Dort on Durant and then possibly have someone like Dyson Daniels guard Jabari Smith Jr, who's not much of an offensive threat. That leaves Dyson capable of getting into Durant's handle or breaking up passing lanes for the seven-footer. In his last three games against the Hawks, Durant's faced little resistance. He's shot over 65 TS% in all of them and the Rockets have beaten the Hawks soundly as a result. That has to change tonight.
Grappling On The Glass
Unsurprisingly, the Rockets have been pretty good on the boards to start the season. They're 8th in total rebound percentage, but they've been stronger while ending possessions on the defensive glass rather than forcing second-chance opportunities. That's an interesting contrast to the Hawks, who are actually 9th in OREB%.
In my opinion, this is going to be a challenging game for the Hawks' center rotation. Steven Adams is one of the best rebounders in the game when he's healthy and Sengun's a good rebounder in his own right. Onyeka Okongwu's rebounding is much better than his reputation suggests, but these are the type of games that the Hawks are going to need to commit to crashing the boards in. Houston has too much size for Okongwu and Jalen Johnson to do all the rebounding work for Atlanta. Jock Landale, Asa Newell and Zuby Ejiofor are all going to have to chip in.
Atlanta's hidden advantage might be the rebounding they get from guards like Dort and Flemings. Both of those players out-rebounded Okongwu last night against Charlotte and it's a testatement to their physicality that they can still show up in the rebounding battle despite being smaller players.
Battle of the Benches
The Rockets made several smart additions to their bench this summer, but the two that really stand out to me are Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Both are tested veterans who can bring a spark on different ends of the court. For Smart, his defensive tenacity and ability to do the dirty work shows up in the final result. He finished as a +14 against the Mavericks in Houston's season opener, scoring 10 points and hitting two threes off the bench to complement his defense. Bogdanovic is a sharpshooter that Hawks fans are undoubtedly familiar with. Even though he's a bit past the form he showed with Atlanta, there's always the potential for Bogi to get hot and give the Rockets an edge as a floor spacer.
For Atlanta, Wiggins has been one of the best bench players in the entire NBA. He's averaging 17.5 points on a staggering 60% from deep while also forcing two steals a night. He has been awesome thus far for the Hawks and clearly has the trust of this coaching staff. A strong night from Wiggins is going to be critical for Atlanta's offense since points are at a premium against Houston's defense.
Injury Report
Mo Gueye (left foot) and Henri Veesaar (right ACL) are both out for tonight, but the Hawks are on a back-to-back and may have more injuries to report. Houston is also on a back-to-back and they haven't released their injury report yet.
Projected Starters
Hawks
G - CJ McCollum
G - Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G/F - Dyson Daniels
F - Jalen Johnson
C - Onyeka Okongwu
Rockets
G - Fred VanVleet
G - Amen Thompson
F - Jabari Smith Jr
F - Kevin Durant
C - Alperen Sengun
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