The Atlanta Hawks (34-34) have the seventh highest-scoring offense at 112.9 points per game and their offensive rating is second in the NBA. Their win over the Portland Trail Blazers was tougher than expected. But it still got them back to .500 while giving them a three-game win streak ahead of this one-game road trip to visit the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.
John Collins has missed the last two contests with multiple injuries with the most serious being a busted-up finger. He will miss his third as Danilo Gallinari, who also missed the win over Portland, is listed as probable.
With how they have defended this season, the Hawks need the latter’s scoring ability.
They’re allowing 112.1 points per game, 21st in the NBA, and have the 26th-ranked defensive rating both of which could be issues against Charlotte.
Sparks should fly when the Atlanta Hawks and Hornets offenses square off
The Hornets are the second-highest scoring offense in the league at 114.9 points per game but, interestingly, their offensive rating is just ninth. More pertinent to this contest, Charlotte has scored 120-plus points in four of its last five outings including back-to-back games with 130-plus to the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder.
They’ve won three of those four games as well as another in which they scored 119 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On the flip side, the Hawks have logged 131 points and 122 points in back-to-back outings but averaged just 113.5 in the four previous outings between their last 120-plus-point performance which was a 130-124 win over the Chicago Bulls.
They are just 5-14 when allowing at least 120 points and 0-8 when allowing 130-plus points.
This game should be just that with the Hornets allowing 114.9 points per game on the season, good for 28th in the league, while their defensive rating is 23rd at 112.4. Those numbers have worsened over their last five to 120.0 points per game allowed and a 120.0 defensive rating; both checking in below the Hawks in that stretch.
It has been the trio of LaMelo Ball (20.0 PPG), Miles Bridges (22.0 PPG), and Terry Rozier (26.0 PPG) leading the way for the Hornets with all three shooting at least 45.0 percent from the floor and 36.0 percent or better from downtown.
Trae Young has to be licking his chops. He’s averaging 24.7 points and 9.3 assists per game against the Hornets this season and 21.0 points with 8.7 assists in his career.
He’s also scored 93 points on 54.9 percent shooting (50.0% 3P) over the last two games.
Young had 30 points in the last meeting but will need the likes of Bogdan Bogdanovic to come around just as Kevin Huerter did in the last game as De’Andre Hunter has done over his last seven games with 17.6 points on 52.5 percent shooting and 43.3 percent from downtown. Bogdanovic has been slumping but the Hawks have gone 3-1 at the same time.
For all of the postseason implications a game like this carries, it should be equally as fun to watch two explosive offenses square off. The Hawks have gone 2-1 versus the Hornets this season, alternating wins and losses.
They will need to be firing on all cylinders if they want to break that pattern but keep their winning streak alive.
This would be a good time to at least get their long-ball going again too. Charlotte has hit 39.9 percent of its triples over the last five contests. Despite going 3-2, Atlanta has shot just 31.1 percent from beyond the arc in that same span. The Hornets have also defended the three better, allowing 37.5 percent of opponents threes compared to 38.4 for the Hawks.