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Atlanta Hawks: Hawks vs. Pelicans Pre Game Report

By Clayton Crowe

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Well, it was fun while it lasted.  And even though the Atlanta Hawks’ 7 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, fans still have to be impressed with the poise this team showed in coming back from a 34 point deficit in the 3rd quarter.

It is early in the season and you are playing your 5th game in 7 days.  The team could have easily given up, chalked this one up as a tired team that just had an off night and rested their starters for much of the second half.  But as we’ve seen so many times over the last few seasons, there is no quit in this group of guys, and that should give Hawks’ fans reason enough to believe that this team is going to be every bit as competitive as last season’s 60 win squad.

Tonight, Anthony Davis and the Pelicans are in town for an 8:00 pm ET tip at Philips Arena.  This will be the second and final matchup with Alvin Gentry’s squad as the Hawks came out of New Orleans with a 121-115 win last Friday night.

Anthony Davis led all scorers with 43 points, his highest output of the season thus far.  Eric Gordon chipped in with 22 for a Pelicans unit that seems to have more injured players at this point than healthy ones.  Already without Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Kendrick Perkins and Quincy Pondexter, the Pelicans may have lost Davis for a game or two as he was removed from Tuesday night’s contest with the Mavs after suffering a hip injury.  The injury isn’t believed to be serious but he’s questionable for tonight’s game, which is good news for this Hawks team looking to get back into the win column.

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While the Hawks aren’t dealing with the injury bug like the Pelicans, the team dodged a bullet as the league decided to not suspend Jeff Teague for his “slap” to the face of T-Wolves player Nemanja Bjelica.  The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 2, but no suspension will be given.  Having Teague in the lineup is huge for this Hawks team as he is the team’s leader in points (18.7) and assists (6.6).

Keys To The Game:

Let Davis be Davis: I’m going off of the assumption that Davis plays tonight and that his removal from last night’s game was just precautionary because the team was up so big.  As with most star players, the key is to not let them get others involved.  As good as “The Brow” is, he isn’t going to channel any inner-Wilt and score enough to take down this Hawks team.  Let him get his and contain everyone else.  With the injuries this team is trying to overcome, they don’t have the proverbial horses to run with the Hawks.  Davis had his best game of the season against the Hawks on Friday and Atlanta came away with a win.  In the Pelicans’ first win of the season against the Mavs last night, Davis had 17 points, but there were five other Pelicans in double figures, the first such time that has happened this season.  At this point, Davis is having to be Kobe Bryant-esque in that he’s being asked to do a lot of everything on a team that just isn’t very good.  We’ve all seen how that has worked out for the Lakers over the last 3+ seasons.

Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks /

Atlanta Hawks

Let it Rain: The Hornets are allowing a league worst 113.3 points per game.  Outside of Davis, there isn’t a good defender on their roster with the exception of Omer Asik who is dealing with injuries of his own, and has only played in a couple of games this season.  They allow almost 10 threes per game which is tied for second worst in the league, and the Hawks have a plethora of long distance shooters, most notably, Kyle Korver.  Korver was the spark that the Hawks needed on Friday against the Pelicans as he scored a season high 22 points on 8-8 shooting.  The Pelicans are a weak team on the wing defensively, so the Hawks would do well to get Korver, Bazemore and Sefolosha the ball early and often.  Tonight should be another high scoring affair with the Hawks wings getting in on the action, especially from deep.

Projected Starting Lineups:

Atlanta Hawks

Notes: Walter Tavares was sent to the D-League on Tuesday and will not be available.

New Orleans Pelicans

Notes: Jrue Holiday will likely sit this game out on the second night of a back to back.  Davis (hip) could be limited as well which would mean more minutes for Ryan Anderson and Dante Cunningham.

Other News & Notes:

  • Jeff Teague is averaging a career high 18.7 points per game this season
  • The Hawks are currently second in the league with 11 steals per game
  • According to the Hawks Twitter account, veterans will receive two free tickets to tonight’s game with Military ID
  • The Hawks are currently 24th in the league in average attendance according to ESPN
  • Tonight’s game will be aired on Fox Sports South (TV) and on 92.9 The Game (Radio)

Next: 4 Observations From Hawks Vs T-Wolves

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