The Atlanta Hawks are back in action tonight, and they are going to be facing the same team that they just faced on Saturday night. The only thing that is going to change is the venue.
The Hawks will try to solve the problems the Houston Rockets have been giving them since last season and get an important road victory. In a very small sample size this season, Atlanta has been a very good team on the road, beating a fully healthy Orlando team last Wednesday and then trouncing the Hornets by 47 points on Friday. The Rockets are a tougher test than either of them, though, and the Hawks are going to have to play far better than they did on Saturday.
Here is what I am going to be watching closely tonight when the two teams face each other again.
1. Can the three-point shooting swing the other way?
The NBA is more complicated than just one factor determining a game, but the Hawks' horrible three-point shooting numbers were the cause of their downfall on Saturday.
Atlanta was able to get up 49 attempts on Saturday night, but they only landed 13 of them. Here is how each player shot from three:
Jalen Johnson: 2-for-7 (29%)
Dyson Daniels: 1-for-1 (100%)
Onyeka Okongwu: 0-for-5 (0%)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: 4-for-12 (33%)
CJ McCollum: 1-for-5 (20%)
Aaron Wiggins: 4-for-9 (44%)
Lu Dort: 1-for-4 (25%)
Jock Landale: 0-for-4 (0%)
Kingston Flemings: 0-for-2 (0%)
Aside from Wiggins and Alexander-Walker (at the start of the game at least), it was a pretty poor shooting night for the Hawks. If they shoot marginally better and don't lose other areas of the game in a big way, they can get a road win tonight.
2. What difference will Fred VanVleet make in this matchup?
Last season, Fred VanVleet's absence kept the Rockets from being serious contenders to get to the NBA Finals. He has been really strong to start this season, but he missed Saturday's game vs the Hawks. He is off the injury report for this game and should be back in the starting lineup once again.
VanVleet is a better defender than Reed Sheppard and will make life that much tougher on the Hawks offense when he is guarding one of the Atlanta ball-handlers. Sheppard did finish the day with 19 points (shooting 5-for-11 from three), six rebounds, and seven assists. Will VanVleet make a similar impact tonight that Sheppard did against Atlanta?
3. Can Jalen Johnson continue his positive momentum?
While he was far from a disaster in the first two games, it was not a great start to the season for Jalen Johnson. On Saturday, though, against one of the toughest defenses in the NBA, Johnson was able to score a season-high 26 points; he tied his career high with 16 assists, and he pulled in nine rebounds.
While the shooting efficiency could stand to get better, Saturday could have been the start of a strong stretch of games for the All-NBA forward.
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