The Atlanta Hawks are returning home to State Farm Arena from a road victory for the first time since December 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Then, the Hawks beat the Lakers to give them a six-game winning streak.
This time, they are coming off a win over the Detroit Pistons on February 4 that snapped their eight-game losing streak to face the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs are debuting their new-look starting lineup featuring De’Aaron Fox.
San Antonio acquired Fox from the Sacramento Kings in a three-team trade with the Chicago Bulls. Fox arrives with a 2022-23 All-Star appearance and All-NBA selection to his credit, and he was the 2023-24 steals champion.
Fox will make his Spurs debut against the Hawks.
De'Aaron Fox now listed available to make Spurs' debut on Wednesday.
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) February 5, 2025
Fox gives second-year Phenom Victor Wembanyama a proven upgrade over the current version of Chris Paul.
It is the kind of pairing the Hawks have failed to deliver for their star PG, Trae Young.
The Hawks attempted to pair Young with Dejounte Murray. That did not yield the desired results, and the Hawks pulled the plug two years later. As teams around the league swing deals for now and the future, it is fair to wonder which direction the Hawks will pick.
They lost Jalen Johnson for the season, lowering their ceiling by an almost unquantifiable amount. But they cannot waste Young’s prime.
The team’s struggles seem to have already harmed Young’s profile.
Hawks’ task vs Spurs that much more challenging
The Hawks lost their first meeting with the Spurs in December in overtime. They had Johnson for that contest, which was also before they switched from Clint Capela (Out/Back Spasms) to Onyeka Okongwu in the starting lineup.
That switch coincided with the lineup change. Now that the Hawks have broken the seal and gotten back into the win column, maybe they can notch a surprise victory over the Spurs.
Fox is averaging 25.0 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game.
He is a three-level scorer capable of creating, which takes a lot of pressure off Wembanyama, who has benefitted greatly from having Paul and rookie Stephon Castle on his team this season.
The Hawks have another home game after this – against the Milwaukee Bucks – before they head back out for a three-game road trip.
The trade deadline is Thursday and the Hawks have been mired in rumors.
Whatever version of the team that takes the court on Wednesday could look noticeably different from the one that takes the floor against the Bucks on Friday. The outcome of this game could go a long way to nudging them in one direction or the other.