Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: Hawks Look To Extinguish The Blazing Heat

The Miami Heat are currently enjoying an eight game winning streak led by Dion Waiters. The Atlanta Hawks are 2-0 in their season series. But the Hawks are facing a confident team with hopes of maybe slipping into the playoffs.

Hopefully, the Atlanta Hawks are well rested after going into a 4th overtime against the New York Knicks Sunday evening. Paul Millsap played a total of 60 minutes while helping Atlanta win the game 142-139.

Three Hawks had a double-double. Dennis Schroder put up 23 points and a career-high 15 assists. Dwight Howard had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Last but not least, the player of the game Paul Millsap stuffed the stat sheet with 37 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 assists. Kent Bazemore also had 24 points making 4 out of 5 of his three-point attempts.

More from Soaring Down South

Carmelo Anthony was unstoppable until fouling out in the second overtime. He left the game with 45 points. Brandon Jennings was hot as well. He had 17 points and 11 assists shooting 50% from long range on eight shots. This was the last meeting between the two teams as the Hawks win the season series 3-1.

The last time the Hawks and Heat met, Atlanta defeated the Heat 93-90. Dennis Schroder had 18 points to lead the Hawks in scoring. Hassan Whiteside had a monstrous game with 19 points and 25 rebounds. Fast forward to tonight, the Hawks have to make sure they contain Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside. Waiters has averaged 21.7 points while shooting 48.5% over a recent stretch. He also ended a 7-game win streak from the Warriors with a game-winning shot.

Thabo Sefolosha will most likely guard Waiters. It shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for Sefolosha. Waiters shoots 37.4% from long range. But he likes to drive to the hole to score most his points. Whiteside is averaging a career-high in both points and rebounds with 16.6 and 13.7.

Dwight Howard should be able to hang with Whiteside, considering he doesn’t have much shooting range. They are virtually the same player. This will be the marquee match-up for tonight. On paper it seems Hassan has the advantage, but Dwight isn’t a pushover by any stretch of the imagination. If he keeps Whiteside from grabbing a crazy number of boards, and protects the rim, he’ll help the Hawks get a win.

Another key match-up will be Dennis Schroder vs. Goran Dragic. Dragic averages more points per game with 19.7. They both average 6.4 assists. Dennis will have to make sure he doesn’t get caught up in screens. Dragic is very efficient when given too much room to shoot off of picks. Dragic is shooting 41.3% from beyond the arc.

The Hawks as a whole have to work on defending the three. Atlanta allows opponents to shoot 36.1% from long range. Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters are both shooting a good percentage from three, so the Hawks have to make an effort to stop them from that distance. On the offensive end, Dennis has to use his speed to get past the slower Goran Dragic. Malcolm Delaney will have to play lock down defense as well dealing with Tyler Johnson who shoots 37.4% from 3.

Both teams are horrible from long range, but where Miami has the advantage is that they are really good at defending at the three. They only allow opponents to shoot just 34.5% from that range. If the Hawks can prevent Miami from getting hot from outside and keep Hassan Whiteside out the paint, they should have great shot at ending Miami’s win streak. I expect the Hawks to win in a close game decided by 5-7 points. I also expect Paul Millsap to eat Luke Babbitt alive on offense making him the player of the game tonight with somewhere between 17-25 points.

Who: Atlanta Hawks (28-20) @ Miami Heat (19-30)

When: 7:30 PM EST, Wednesday, February 1st, 2017

Where: American Airlines Arena

How: Fox Sports Southeast

Home/Hawks News