The Atlanta Hawks' schedule to begin the year is brutal to look at, especially when any given opponent can challenge the Hawks to a long, drawn-out battle; the Bulls made sure of that in an absolutely gut-wrenching loss recently. After already facing the Thunder and Magic, the Hawks will face the Cavaliers, Lakers, Clippers, and Magic again over the next seven games.
While you might see the Nets and injury-riddled Pacers on the docket and think it's a cakewalk, you'll have to think again. Not only have both of these teams proven they're anything but a free win, but they also represent a collectively terrifying threat.
Briefly interrupted by a mere 3-game respite, the Hawks are about to embark on two back-to-back 4-game road trips. These away games include matchups against the Cavs and Clippers, two teams projected to finish near the top of their respective conferences.
Road games have demolished the Hawks throughout Trae Young’s tenure
Since 2018 - the arrival of Trae in Atlanta - the Hawks have struggled to find any semblance of success in road settings. While their home crowd often provides a steadying environment for the squad, the Hawks just can't seem to block out the noise to consistently earn victories on the road - save for the spectacular 2021 playoff run.
Numerically, the average win percentage of the home team in the NBA since 2018 is approximately 56%. This is no small advantage and proves that the environment and outside factors play a huge role in determining the outcome of a game.
Unfortunately for Atlanta, this number is even more skewed for their squad in particular. While Atlanta has managed a modest 52.1% success rate at home since 2018, they have won a mere 34.7% of their road games. This transforms the typical 12% net difference of winning at home vs. on the road to a whopping +17.4% for Atlanta.
Hope still remains for the team, however. Quin Snyder seems to have brought a calming effect to the team since last year. His presence, among other factors, was able to raise the floor on the Hawks’ road woes from below 35% in Trae-led seasons prior to over 45% last season.
If the Hawks have any chance at steadying the waters after a shaky first four games this year, it is imperative that they continue their trend of upward success in road matchups and not fall back on their old ways in catastrophic fashion.