The Atlanta Hawks have received a level of disrespect this offseason in terms of the NBA’s offseason power rankings. After a very disappointing season for a number of reasons, the Hawks still finished with a 43-39 record. They made it through the play-in tournament before being knocked out in the first round by the Miami Heat.
They then went out and made some major adjustments to their roster. They added All-Star Dejounte Murray who is going to help their perimeter defense which was one of the worst in the league last season. They also added Maurice Harkless and Justin Holiday to help out at this end of the floor as well.
Now predictions are being made for every team and Fanduel has questioned if the Hawks are going to be over or under 45.5 wins for the season. This is in effect saying that this is where they believe that the Hawks are at. With the players added and a healthy offseason for the majority of the team, they should win much more than that and this is how they can get there.
How the Atlanta Hawks win over 45.5 games for the season.
One of the first things that the Hawks need to establish is home court advantage. They need to make State Farm Arena back into the fortress it once was and win the majority of their home games. They managed to win 27 last season despite almost making the wrong kind of history at home.
However, if they can take three or four more games at home this season then they will have 30 on their home floor. Only the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and Memphis Grizzlies won this amount of games on their home floor.
However, where the Hawks struggled on the road which is often the case for younger teams. Yes, they added veterans at the start of the 2020-21 season but Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic are not going to be able to stop a home team on offense with a crowd encouraging them. Their defense was simply not up to it.
However, now that they have added the players mentioned above, they are more than likely to win more games on the road. Last year they took 16 games on the road. If they do that and win 30 at home they have already gone over the 45.5 games. However, this team should be able to win 50 at a minimum.