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What: Charlotte Hornets (2-5) at Atlanta Hawks (4-3)
When: 7:30 pm EST
Where: State Farm Arena; Atlanta, GA
How to watch: Fox Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Atlanta’s high-powered offense
The Atlanta Hawks offense is going to be a handful for the Charlotte Hornets defense tonight. The Hawks offense maximizes the most out of every possession coming into this game as the 2nd most efficient offense in the NBA. The Hawks offense also boast the 4th most high scoring team in the NBA averaging 118 PPG, and the 3rd highest team FG% at a jaw dropping 50.9%. Although Atlanta comes with an impressive offense their defense leaves a lot to be desired as they are 19th in points allowed giving up 112 PPG to opponents this season and 18th in defensive efficiency. This game has the makings to mirror majority of the Atlanta Hawks game this season as a shootout.
Keys To The Game
Turnovers
The Hornets have to slow down the Hawks offense a way to do that is by causing turnovers and gaining more possessions in this game. That is getting in passing lanes and applying ball pressure, The Hornets cannot sit back and allow the Hawks to get comfortable on offense and pick them apart Atlanta is too deep offensively with scorers that all have the ability to get hot on any given night. Winning the possession battle is only one part of this key, the Hornets must capitalize on any extra given possessions this game if they want a shot to be in this one.
Clean Up Boards (again)
This is probably the most important key; I’m probably going to be saying this all year it seems like, because Charlotte has been to up and down on their effort level on grabbing rebounds this season so far. Tonight, will magnify that weakness if they don’t get it together as Atlanta is currently 7th in total rebounds per game this season. The hornets are a small team this is going to have to be a team effort tonight if they want to walk away with the victory, they can’t let Clint Capela and John Collins have their way with them in the post.
Maximizing Every Possession
The Hornets offense ranks 25th in the NBA in offensive efficiency. They have to start making the most of their offensive possessions as a team. An example we can look back at the 1st game against the 76ers, Charlotte forced an insane 21 turnovers and still ended up dropping that game. They have got to capitalize on more of their offensive possessions, and that starts with moving the ball and creating easier looks for the team as a whole. Too many times has the offense got into a rut and made scoring harder than it should be. The identity that works for Charlotte is having as many scoring options available as possible in every possession. If Charlotte keeps everyone involved and doesn’t get caught up in trading buckets they should give themselves a chance tonight.