How will Gordon Hayward’s return to the Hornets impact the Atlanta Hawks?
The Atlanta Hawks have been on a quest all season, to try and emulate what they were able to achieve last season. Unfortunately for the franchise and their faithful fans, the Hawks have had too many issues and they are locked in a battle for the play-in tournament seedings.
Fortunately for the Hawks and all their fans, they have a good chance of getting above at least one, possibly three teams to get the best opportunity to qualify for the playoffs. They have done this on the back of their schedule going from one of the toughest to one of the easiest.
In recent weeks the teams around the Hawks have improved. The Nets got back Kevin Durant from injury and he has been superb. The way he has been playing means that De’Andre Hunter will need to have the game of his life to stop the scoring sensation. The vaccination laws in New York City mean that they also received Kyrie Irving back. It will be interesting to see if the Hawks can sneak past the Nets.
The Atlanta Hawks have to contend with Gordon Hayward too
The Hawks don’t play the Charlotte Hornets in their last five games. However, the Hornets have welcomed their franchise player Gordon Hayward back from injury. The Hawks saw firsthand what Hayward could do to a team last season and this means that the Hornets will likely win more games than expected.
This means that the Hawks cannot afford to drop their remaining games. They need to beat the Nets in the next game and then make sure that they bring their best game to the contests against the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat.
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It may actually cost the Hawks the chance to get past the Hornets, such is the difference that Hayward can make to the team. However, all the Hawks can do is focus on what they can achieve and let everything else fall into place after that.