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

The Hawks have alternated wins with the Charlotte Hornets

In what has become a rather exciting back-and-forth, the Charlotte Hornets took the most recent matchup with the Hawks 116-106 largely on the strength of standout performances from Miles Bridges and Montrezl Harrell in the first half as well as P.J. Washington in the fourth quarter. The Hawks shot just 47.4 percent overall and 2-of-8 threes in that final frame.

That was part of a five-game winning streak for Charlotte. They’ve since started a new streak, of just, two games, but taking out the Utah Jazz and the Nets in successive outings to give them wins in seven of their last eight tries.

Charlotte was a team we were keeping an eye on coming into the season. They share a lot of similarities with the Hawks including a star at point guard in LaMelo Ball.

The Hornets lead the league in assists and are second in three-point efficiency in this streak.

They’ve also turned the ball over the third-fewest amount of times in that time adding more significance to the Hawks finding their rhythm offensively early in any matchup. With how the Hornets run – they are fifth in the league in pace – and shoot the ball, they are never fully out of a contest.

As we get closer to the possibility that the Hawks could host their Play-In matchup, a battle with the Hornets could increase those odds and grant the Hawks the home turf if the two teams finish with the same record.

Charlotte and Chicago are the only teams on this list that have already finished their season series with the Hawks.

The good news is that the Hawks own those tie-breakers.

However, the bad news is that they cannot directly impact their standing among these teams any more than they already have. It is par for the course after what has transpired this season, but it also means that there is a chance the Hawks don’t gain much if any ground despite the standing being as bunched up as it is.