weekly happenings

atljwilson

After winning three out of four last week, the Atlanta Hawks get to spend this entire week in their own beds.  Only two games are on the schedule, and both are at home.

Details:  7:30 p.m. (ET) | Philips Arena | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game | Get Tickets

The Los Angeles Lakers make their only visit to Philips Arena early this season.  The Lakers are in unfamiliar territory: 1-9 and seemingly in the midst of a rebuild.  They were dealt a huge blow when first-round pick and bolstering prospect Juliuis Randle broke his leg on opening night, forcing him to miss this entire season.  Steve Nash is also out for the year, so L.A. is relying heavily, some say too heavily, on Kobe Bryant to carry the offensive load.  Bryant has scored, but he's done so at the expense of consuming a large percentage of the team's shots.  It's a great strategy if you're shooting 50 percent, but Bryant is just a shade under 38.  It gets worse for the Lakers on defense, where they're ranked last in the league in efficiency and are allowing 112 points per contest.  Do they have talent?  Absolutely.  Bryant, Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin and Nick Young have all found success in their careers.  The Lakers are hoping they can put it all together soon.

Details:  7:30 p.m. (ET) | Philips Arena | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game | Get Tickets

Stan Van Gundy said after a recent road win in Oklahoma City that he likes the fight in his team.  The Pistons look much different under Van Gundy, with an offense less focused on isolated post-ups and more focused on floor spacing and movement.  Sure, they still have two beasts down low in Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, but Van Gundy is figuring out how to use the other guys to compliment them.  Van Gundy has also tinkered with bringing Greg Monroe off the bench so he can use Josh Smith at the floor and have a more dangerous perimeter attack, though he did start Monroe, Smith and Drummond together on Saturday.  Where the Pistons struggle offensively is on the perimeter.  Though they did add some nice offseason pieces to the bench, there isn't a lot of shooting depth.  Defensively, the Hawks need to be disciplined, force perimeter jump shots and, when possible, double the post to force one of those big bodies to kick it back outside.

DeMarre Carroll vs. Josh Smith.  Both players play a tough, physical style, so this one should be interesting if Carroll is healthy and Smith starts at small forward.

IT PROBABLY WON'T HAPPEN, BUT WE HOPE IT DOES...

The Hawks will make 11 straight threes.  Pay it forward, right Cleveland?

IT PROBABLY WILL HAPPEN, BUT WE HOPE IT DOESN'T...

Kobe Bryant will take 50 shots and make them all.  Because that would just be so fitting.

DeMarre Carroll (Strained Groin):  He has missed the past three games and is listed as questionable for Tuesday.

The Hawks have won their first four home games for the first time in five years.

Kyle Korver is shooting 57.7 percent from three-point range this season.  He is the all-time single season leader in that category...at 53%.

Here's where the various sports websites have us in their rankings this week:

hawks-get-some-home-cookin

Hawks Get Some Home Cookin'

The Hawks have four games this week, including a rematch with the Knicks, a visit from former assistant coach Quin Snyder and matchups with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.

Details:  7:30 p.m. (ET) | Madison Square Garden | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game

The Hawks outscored the Knicks 55-35 to erase a 13-point halftime deficit in Saturday's second half.  The rematch comes 48 hours later, this time in New York's house, and Atlanta will need more consistent play if it hopes to win its first road game of the season.  A big reason for the comeback was DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap's ability to limit Carmelo Anthony.  After a 14-point first quarter, the former scoring leader had just six the rest of the way, and the Hawks locked down everyone else to win it.  New York is still learning a new offense under first-year head coach Derek Fisher, so it's expected to take some time.  They're also without point guards Jose Calderon and Pablo Prigioni, as well as big man Andrea Bargnani, which hasn't helped.  Atlanta has the fortune of seemingly catching the Knicks at the right time: early and injured.  Now it's up to them to take advantage.

It only took one season as a head coach for a Mike Budenholzer disciple to get his own head coaching job.  Quin Snyder returns to Atlanta Wednesday, bringing with him a much-improved Jazz team that's off to a respectable start.  Utah's new-look offense features many of the principles Snyder preached in Coach Bud's system: pace and space.  Jazz fans have launded the new-look offense, and it has led to a balanced scoring effort early.  Five guys are averaging double figures, and that doesn't include Trey Burke's 9.7.  Part of the reason for the offensive success has been 46 percent shooting, good for eighth in the league so far.  Unfortunately for them, most of that hot shooting has been inside the arc, and the Hawks will have to take note and force some outside jumpers.  Atlanta has had good success against Utah in recent years, but Snyder will have his guys prepared to face a team he knows very well.

Gone is LeBron James, but the Miami Heat are still right near the top of the East standings early as if nothing has changed.  The biggest reason why?  Chris Bosh.  He's been one of the best players in the early part of the season, averaging better than 23 points and 10 rebounds in seven games.  His all-around game continues to improve, and Erik Spoelstra playing him at center is a nightmare matchup for opposing bigs.  The addition of Loul Deng has helped on both ends, as he's been the team's primary wing defender while averaging 15.7 points on 56 percent shooting offensively (he also looks healthier than he has in a while).  The Hawks can't relax when they see a LeBron-less Heat team Friday night, as these guys can still turn up the defensive pressure as well as anybody, and they're very good in the open court.

Details:  7:30 p.m. (ET) | Quicken Loans Arena | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game

Many have been critical of Cleveland's 2-3 start, but let's not forget that the "Big Three" in Miami got off to a similarly slow start while chemistry was still building before eventually catching fire and winning four straight conference championships.  LeBron James is shooting just 42 percent, Kevin Love is shooting 37 percent and the team is averaging fewer than 18 assists per game.  As the shots begin to fall for the two superstars, the assists should go up as well.  Defending the Cavaliers starts with making things tough for James.  You're not going to stop him, but making him work hard on both ends gives you your best chance to win.  Love is a weapon as well, as he can shoot from anywhere on the floor.  He's also a monster on the glass (11.2 rebounds in five games), so Atlanta's bigs will be challenged.  Offensively, the Hawks just need to continue to do what's been working with ball movement, drives and kicking to shooters.

Al Horford vs. Chris Bosh on Friday.  Two centers who can shoot and run the floor make for a fun matchup.

Carmelo Anthony will score six points in the final three quarters Monday.  A repeat defensive performance should mean another Hawks win.

There will be more nail-biters this week.  Last week had its share of them, and while we hope to be comfortably ahead in all of our games, it just doesn't seem to be our style.

Adreian Payne (Plantar fasciitis):  He's listed as day-to-day.

45 years ago Monday, Lou Hudson scored 57 points as the Hawks beat the Bulls 133-132 in Auburn, Ala.

Dennis Schröder leads the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (PER). The stat assigns value to player accomplishments (made shot, assist, etc.) and penalized them for mistakes (missed shot, turnover, etc.).

hawks-see-wade-lebron-for-first-time-this-week

Hawks See Wade, LeBron For First Time This Week

The Hawks split their first two regular season games, and the schedule doesn't get any easier this week with the Spurs, Hornets and Knicks on the docket.

Details:  8:30 p.m. (ET) | AT&amp;T Center | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game

The reigning NBA Champions are off to a tough start by Spurs standards.  After a Houdini-like escape act on opening night, San Antonio was shut down in the desert Friday against Phoenix.  A rare four-day break between games should give them some time to rest and heal prior to Atlanta's second trip to the AT&amp;T Center in two weeks (the first was a preseason-ending Atlanta win).  Kawhi Leonard's eye infection seems to not be a hinderance, as he played 23 minutes against the Suns on Friday.  He did go 0-5 from the field, but that could be rust as much as vision.  Tiago Splitter and Patty Mills, two key pieces from last year's championship team, remain out, which gives Al Horford and Paul Millsap one less road block on Atlanta's offensive end.  This Spurs team is still a dangerous one though.  Tony Parker is averaging 21 points on 55 percent shooting through two games, and Tim Duncan is averaging a double-double.  The preseason win in San Antonio's house looked good on paper, but the Hawks struggled against the Spurs' first unit before Gregg Popovich pulled the plug in the first half.

Details:  7:00 p.m. (ET) | Time Warner Cable Arena | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game

The Hornets are expected to field their best team in a while.  General manager Rich Cho has made a splash in free agency in back-to-back years, getting Al Jefferson in 2013 and following that up with the Lance Stephenson signing this offseason.  Charlotte is off to a 1-2 start, though all three games have been decided by one possession.  Defensively, we know they're good.  They were fourth in the NBA in scoring defense a season ago and are allowing just 91 points per game through the first three.  The problem with them is scoring the ball.  They've scored more than 100 just once and needed overtime to do it.  Keeping Kemba Walker out of the lane and Al Jefferson off the block are both easier said than done, but accomplishing that should go a long way toward keeping Charlotte's offensive struggles going.  Offensively, the Hawks have the luxury of Al Horford, meaning they can draw Jefferson away from the basket.  That, and keeping the ball zipping, will be key against the Hornets' stout D

Details:  7:30 p.m. (ET) | Philips Arena | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game | Buy Tickets

The Knicks weren't expected by very many to be one of the better teams in the East, but after an opening night stinker against Chicago, they've rallied to beat the Cavaliers and Hornets to open the season 2-1.  New head coach Derek Fisher has preached defense, and his team has responded the past two games, allowing an average of 92.5 points.  With Jose Calderon sidelined for a few weeks, former Hawks draft pick Shane Larkin has stepped into the point guard role and been serviceable.  His stats won't blow you away, but he's shooting an efficient 47 percent and is limiting turnovers.  Carmelo Anthony is off to a hot start, and A'mare Stoudemire seems to finally be fully healthy.  Part of New York's success has been playing Anthony at the 4, allowing for more movement on offense and creating that matchup problem, while allowing themselves to be quicker on defense.  Whether Fisher sticks with that strategy remains to be seen, but it's worked so far for what looks to be an improved Knicks team.

Paul Millsap vs. Carmelo Anthony on Saturday.  Millsap has guarded him in the past when the Knicks have gone small and might have to do it again.

The Hawks will beat the Hornets in overtime.  The probability of overtime is small, but it seems to happen frequently when these teams meet, most recently in the preseason.

The Hawks will lose by two points in a regular season game at the AT&amp;T Center.  See "2012-13" or "2013-14" if you don't know what we're talking about.

Adreian Payne (Plantar fasciitis):  He's listed as day-to-day after sitting out Saturday's home opener.

The Hawks haven't beaten the Spurs in a regular season game in San Antonio since Tim Duncan was drafted in 1997.

Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution pointed out that Kyle Korver (80%), Mike Scott (71.4%) and Jeff Teague (66.7%) all rank among the top 5 in the league in three-point shooting percentage so far this season.

tough-week-looms-for-hawks

Tough Week Looms For Hawks

Finally it's here!  Opening week in the NBA, which for the Atlanta Hawks means just two games (they only have three over the first 10 days of the NBA season).  Nevertheless, basketball is finally back, so let's get right to it.

Details:  7:30 p.m. (ET) | Air Canada Centre | SportSouth, 92.9 The Game

The Raptors are almost a mirror image of the Hawks.  Think about it: exciting, fast-developing point guard, versatile frontcourt, plays with pace, exciting to watch.  Not to mention both teams' offseasons were identical: keep the starting five and spend money adding depth where needed.  Two of Toronto's most important offseason aquisitions actually came in a trade with Atlanta.  The Raptors picked up veteran wing man Lou Williams and exciting prospect Lucas Nogueira in a trade the Hawks ultimately made to free up cap room to add depth to their own bench.  With both teams seemingly on the rise, this is one of the most underrated season-opening games.  The Raptors won both meetings handily in Toronto last season, and it'll no doubt be a challenge for Atlanta with one of the best fan bases in the league rocking the Air Canada Centre on opening night.

The team that ended the Hawks' 2013-14 season makes an early visit to Philips Arena this year.  The Pacers have already been bit by the injury bug, as Paul George is lost for the year due to a broken leg and David West's status for this weekend is still unclear after spaining his ankle last week.  Indiana also lost Lance Stephenson in free agency over the summer, so this will be a different-looking team than the one we saw in last year's exciting 7-game series.  Despite some key losses, the Pacers are still a formitable foe.  7'2" Roy Hibbert is back and has been working all summer to diversify his offensive game.  Offseason aquisitions C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey are expected to start on the wings, and both players have the ability to create instant offense for themselves.  Frank Vogel is one of the best coaches in the league and will have this team competing for a playoff spot.

Jeff Teague vs. George Hill on Saturday.  After Teague dropped 28 points with Hill guarding him in Game 1 last season, Vogel adjusted the matchup and put Paul George on him.  Vogel doesn't have the luxury of a first team all defensive player this season, so it'll likely be up to Hill to contain Atlanta's speedy point guard.

Mike Scott will score 17 points in a quarter against the Pacers.  Oh, the Game 5 memories.

The referees will actually call Jeff Teague out of bounds when he steps out of bounds.  They didn't in Game 3 last year, and Teague was rewarded with what could have been the best shot of the 2014 NBA Playoffs.

John Jenkins (Blister):  This kept him out of the preseason finale but sounded like it was just a day-to-day thing.

Many talk about Indiana's struggles at Philips Arena, but the Pacers have actually won five of the past seven games in Atlanta's building.

ESPN:  16USA Today:  19Sports Illustrated:  19FOX Sports:  20Bleacher Report:  18HoopsHabit:  17

weekly happenings

Hawks Get Some Home Cookin'

Hawks See Wade, LeBron For First Time This Week

Tough Week Looms For Hawks

Hawks Face Tall Task In Season Opener