Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: March 1 vs. Dallas Mavericks

The Atlanta Hawks return to Phillips Arena tonight for the first game of a six-game home-stand. Can they defeat the lowly Dallas Mavericks to get things started off right?

The Atlanta Hawks bounced back from their recent struggles in a major way on Monday night. After losing back-to-back games over the weekend to the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic, they easily dispatched the 2nd place Boston Celtics on the road at TD Garden.

The Hawks played with an anger and an aggressiveness they hadn’t shown in awhile. It was a complete offensive and defensive performance that helped wash away the bad taste in the mouths of the team and fans.

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Atlanta now faces a rather daunting short-term schedule. They will play six games in a row at Phillips Arena, but three of them come against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors, and the Toronto Raptors.

Before the gauntlet is upon them, they’ll face a much gentler foe. Although, the Hawks have proven this season that they can beat anyone and they can lose to anyone. The quality of the opponent often does not matter.

The Dallas Mavericks are first on the docket. The Mavericks haven’t been very good this season, but they have proven to be a competent team, after a slow start made it seem like they’d be among the worst teams in the NBA.

Dallas enters tonight’s game 24-35. That’s not ideal, but they’re still just 2.5 games behind the 8th place Denver Nuggets. After all their early season struggles, the Mavericks are still in the playoff race. That’s amazing.

That’s a testament to the play of Harrison Barnes this season, Dirk Nowitzki‘s inability to age, and Rick Carlisle being perhaps the best coach in the NBA not named Gregg Popovich. Despite their ability to hang around the playoff race, this is still a mediocre to bad team on paper.

Dallas has the 25th rated offense in the league this season, scoring 105.9 points per 100 possessions, just one spot ahead of Atlanta’s woeful offense. One their biggest issues is getting to the free-throw line. They shoot 80.4 percent as a team from the charity stripe, but attempt just 18.1 free-throws per game. That’s dead last in the NBA.

They are also a dreadful rebounding team. They rank 30th in the league in rebounds per game at 38.4 per night. A recent acquisition may help solve that problem.

They are a middle of the road defensive team. They allow 108.1 points per 100 possessions, ranking 13th in the NBA. The aforementioned acquisition may also help their defensive numbers.

At the NBA Trade Deadline, the Mavericks acquired Nerlens Noel from the Philadelphia 76ers for Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut, and a protected first-round pick. Noel is the young center they have been missing. He makes for a perfect building block alongside Harrison Barnes.

Noel has averaged 8.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game on 61.1 percent shooting over 31 games this season (2 with Dallas, 29 with Philadelphia). The 22-year-old should develop into a reliable rim-running, rim-protecting big man, as long as he stays healthy. He’s already productive, now he just needs playing time.

Harrison Barnes has been Dallas’ best player this season. Barnes signed a four-year, $95 million contract with the Mavericks over the summer. It was definitely an overpay, but Barnes has been good for Dallas this season.

Barnes leads the team in scoring, averaging 20.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game on 47.6 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three-point distance. Sadly, Barnes doesn’t have much firepower around him.

Wesley Matthews is second on the team in scoring, averaging 15 points per game on 37.9 percent shooting from three-point range. Matthews has been productive, but he hasn’t been the same player since his Achilles injury. Matthews will miss tonight’s game, Dorian Finney-Smith will start in his place.

Nowitzki has been fine this season, but he’s clearly on the decline. He’s averaging 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on 41.5 percent shooting and 38.6 percent from outside. He’s not the player he once was. His longevity is impressive nonetheless.

The Mavericks have a few fun young guards that have recently come into more playing time. One of those being former Indiana University star Yogi Ferrell. After spending the early part of the season in the D-League, Ferrell signed a two-year deal with Dallas in early February.

Ferrell has been a revelation for the Mavericks, averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 assists per game on 41.2 percent from the field and 41 percent from behind the arc. It would seem that the Mavericks have found their point guard of the future, plucked right off the scrap heap. That type of scouting and player development is what makes the Mavericks organization consistently in playoff contention.

The Hawks and Mavericks have already played once this season. The Hawks came away with a win, 97-82 on Jan. 7. The projections from numberFire give the Hawks a 64.97 percent of beating Dallas tonight.

Daily Fantasy Basketball Projections by numberFire

This is a team the Hawks should beat. I expect they will come away with the win, riding the momentum from their big win in Boston. They need to take care of business tonight with difficult opponents looming.

Next: Dennis Schroder Is The Future And The Present

Who: Dallas Mavericks (24-35) @ Atlanta Hawks (33-26)

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

Where: Phillips Arena

How: Fox Sports Southeast

Prediction: Hawks 99 Mavericks 90

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