Soaring Down South
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Who would be the best Play-In Tournament matchup for the Atlanta Hawks?

By Joshua Buckhalter

Feb 26, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles past Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet (23) as Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) sets a screen in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles past Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet (23) as Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) sets a screen in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

The Chicago Bulls are tough but have clear weaknesses

Trae Young got the last laugh in the regular-season series finale against the Bulls earlier this mong with a 39-point, 13-assist performance in front of the home crowd. He helped avoid being swept by Chicago who is just 5-10 since the All-Star break. The Hawks have the better record in that span at 9-7 and Young is the best player in that series.

The Hawks have been bad on the road, though, going just 13-23 on the road (0-2 in Chicago) this season including going 2-5 so far in March.

Young still gives the Hawks an advantage after what he did to rookie Ayo Dosunmu in the last matchup. It remains to be seen if the Bulls will get back starting point guard Lonzo Ball, just as is the case with the Hawks and John Collins.

They did get Alex Caruso and second-year forward Patrick Williams back in the mix.

The Hawks have a couple of other weapons that would complicate matters significantly for the Bulls were the latter to fall all the way down forcing a showdown.

First, neither Kevin Huerter nor De’Andre Hunter played in the first two meetings in which the Hawks lost by double-digits. Both played in the last loss which was by just four points and came down to some late-game heroics from DeMar DeRozan.

Next, the Hawks are prolific in the pick-and-roll. They lead the league generating 1.29 points per possession from the roll man and rank seventh with 0.91 PPP from the ball handler. In fairness, the Bulls are better with their roll man producing 0.95 PPP, but they are near the bottom of the league in points generated by the ball handler at just 0.98 PPP.

The Hawks are a top-12 pick-and-roll defense against the roll man and they allow just 0.02 more points per possession to the ball handler than the Bulls.

It is a matchup that could be very dependent on location – the Bulls are 26-10 at home and 17-21 on the road – but there are still signs that the Hawks could take another head-to-head if it came down to it.

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