The NBA is back!
For real this time. After a long offseason of league-wide movement and outside storylines, the main thing can once again be the main thing. Regular season actions tips off Tuesday, with the very first game beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
A mid-day matchup between the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons gets everything started, followed by a high-stakes evening clash between the Philadelphia 76ers and the reigning-champion New York Knicks.
If the Atlanta Hawks - after a stellar summer of their own - want to even think about contending, they'll have to assess whether or not they can make it through each of the teams playing on the NBA's official opening night.
Those squads have the starpower - Atlanta has proven continuity
It's difficult to accurately determine what matters more in the modern NBA: talent or chemistry?
The best of the best have both. Every recent champion has been loaded with star-level talent, with the connection of the group standing out above everything else.
The Knicks came together, as a group, to become the best versions of themselves. It resulted in the franchise's first championship in 53 years.
It was the same deal with OKC a year prior.
Recent winners have laid the blueprint, and it seems to be the exact path the Hawks are just now beginning to follow. They even stole some members of the 2025 Thunder championship squad.
Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins come to Atlanta two seasons removed from their unbelievable championship run - winning OKC their first ever ring. They both played a vital part in helping them reach the promised land, and their contributions will be missed. The Hawks are thrilled to have them on board.
They join a group that ascended up the Eastern Conference standings last season, and will be looking to do more of the same in the new campaign.
Hawks have a key advantage over other East contenders
The 76ers, as talented and loaded with starpower as they are, will almost certainly require an adjustment period.
It's nearly impossible to immediately succeed with that many primary ball-handlers in the lineup. There's only one ball to go around for LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe.
The Hawks, meanwhile, have a plethora of weapons capable of playing either on or off the ball, and when the two squads run into each other, it wouldn't be ridiculous to expect Atlanta to come out on top.
It's going to be a fun season, and it begins now.
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