The Atlanta Hawks don’t even catch a break with Nikola Jokic
The Atlanta Hawks have had one of the hardest schedules in the NBA to start their season. As such, they are in the middle of a five-game slump with one more road game to go before they get some respite with their home stretch. To put it bluntly, the Hawks have struggled on the road.
In the five games that they have lost on the trot, they have lost to the Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and the Utah Jazz twice. This is an honor roll of some of the best teams in the NBA at the moment and the Hawks have not been up to the task
The last game they have is against the Denver Nuggets in the Mile High City. Last season the Hawks took on the Nuggets just after the trade deadline when they were integrating new players in. History tells us that the Nuggets were too strong for the Hawks.
The Atlanta Hawks could not catch a break on this road trip
Markieff Morris and Nikola Jokic renewed their rivalry when the Miami Heat took on the Nuggets and towards the end of the game things erupted. Morris ran into Jokic in a non-basketball move at half court and last season’s MVP took exception.
Jokic shoved Morris to the floor in mid-court in retaliation and was promptly suspended by the NBA for a game. As is the Hawks’ luck this season, their next game is against the Nuggets and Jokic will be playing.
The Nuggets play the Indiana Pacers prior to the Hawks game. This means that the Nuggets’ best player will be rested, and most probably have a fire in his belly which has the potential to be dangerous for the Hawks.
Next. Trae Young was better but he needs to do more. dark
This means that the Hawks frontcourt is going to face a difficult challenge in curtailing Jokic. They have caught a bit of a break with Michael Porter being out with injury. However, Jokic is their main option and it would have helped the Hawks get a win on the road if he had been out.