The Atlanta Hawks just have to be themselves against CHO

One of the biggest takeaways from the Atlanta Hawks (43-39) last matchup versus the Hornets was, well, takeaways. The Hornets won the game 116-106 but the Hawks had pulled to within one point when they were outscored 17-9 the rest of the way. Of course, the Hawks went on to win nine of their last 13 outings to force this game.

This game needs to be wholly independent of the last meeting when the Hornets frontcourt took over for different stretches.

Part of that for the Hawks is getting second-year pro, Onyeka Okongwu, on P.J. Washington when the latter comes in for the Hornets small-ball looks. Okongwu had a solid outing in the last meeting with 14 points, five rebounds, and two blocks but barely matched up with Washington.

Aside from that, the Hawks just need to keep on doing what they have been doing all season.

Ball security and shot selection need to be priorities for the Atlanta Hawks

It might be surprising to read that the Hawks just need to keep doing what they’ve done all season. This year has been marred by inconsistency on the floor, fluctuating health, and general disappointment after making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and taking the world champion Milwaukee Bucks six games.

Now, they are fighting for their postseason lives in a one-game, winner-take-all situation.

Still, the Hawks did several things right throughout the season that should help them against the Hornets and, more importantly, move into the playoffs if they win on Wednesday.

First, they led the league in the regular season with just 11.9 turnovers per contest beating out the next three teams, which were all tied, by more than one-half turnover. They also had the third-most games with fewer than 10 giveaways.

To that end, their record in those games was 11-10 (.524). Zoom out to 12 turnovers, the number of giveaways they had against the Hornets, and their record jumps to 33-20 (.622). Add one more and they are still a stellar 39-24 (.619) this season. Remember, this includes the loss to Charlotte on March 16.

The fact that the Hornets are fifth in steals only adds to the importance of ball security.

On top of that, the Hawks were one of the most efficient teams over the final 15 games as ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry illustrated.

They sport the seventh-best offensive rating and the 11th-best defensive rating leading to the seventh-best net rating, per NBA.com data.

Head coach Nate McMillan spoke about the Hawks — who are 27-14 at home but just 16-25 on the road — not growing complacent because of this game’s locale.

Their three-point efficiency has dipped down to 38.1% in that span, 11th in the league. But they rank second on the season albeit on a lower number of 37.4%, right behind the division rival Miami Heat.

Both teams are with 0.2% of each other in terms of defensive three-point efficiency on the season — 36.4% for Atlanta to 36.2% for Charlotte. But Hawks opponents shot 36.3% from deep over the last 15 games compared to 38.8% for the Hornets.

This will not be a cakewalk by any stretch. The Hornets can go on runs just as easily as the Hawks can as they showed in that most recent clash. But the Hawks have a season’s worth of evidence backing up the belief that they can and should emerge victoriously.