Diving into the Atlanta Hawks schedule for January

After a reasonably easy start to the NBA season in October, the Atlanta Hawks face a tough November that has the chance to set their season up or make life tough for the franchise for the rest of the season. December is a month that should be a lot easier before they hit January which is shaping up to be the toughest test for the franchise this season.

If the Hawks have played according to expectations then they should have a positive record leading into the month. This means that if the Hawks can come away with a record close to .500 then this will see them positioned well for the run into the All-Star break.

However, it is not going to be an easy task to take a winning record this month. As my fellow site expert Josh Buckhalter says, the NBA was petty with the Atlanta Hawks’ schedule for the entire month of January.

The Atlanta Hawks have a difficult month to slog through in January.

For the first time of the season, the Hawks have more away games than home games in January. I mean the month starts with an away game against last season’s champions the Golden State Warriors. That road trip keeps them in the same area as they catch up with former Hawks Kevin Huerter and the Sacramento Kings before popping into Los Angles to take on both LA teams.

The Hawks play only five of their 15 games for the month at home. What is worse is that end of the month they have the first game of a five-game road trip. If November has the potential to derail the Hawks’ season then January could put several roadblocks in place that may not be moveable before the All-Star break.

They are playing against eight Western Conference teams compared to seven Eastern Conference teams for the month. They also play two back-to-backs the first being in the middle of the month with two away games. The first is against the Indiana Pacers and the second is against the Toronto Raptors. The second back-to-back is at home against the New York Knicks and the Charlotte Hornets.

The only potential relief for the Hawks over this month is that they only play six teams that were in the playoffs last season. They do play the LA Clippers twice in the month which could make life more difficult.