3 Key Questions Entering Hornets-Hawks Play-In Game Wednesday Night
The NBA Play-In Tournament has already begun and heading into Wednesday night, the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks will battle for a chance to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference 8-seed Game on Friday night.
Following their appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago, the Atlanta Hawks find themselves in the Play-In Tournament scrambling for answers on how to keep their season alive.
Trae Young has been a pretty good answer for them all year long, but he alone will not be able to lift the Hawks past a young, dynamic Charlotte Hornets team. Someone is going to have to step up for Atlanta outside of Young and with John Collins still sidelined, Atlanta is looking very shaky heading into this Play-In Game.
As for the Charlotte Hornets, they have won at least 40 games in a season for the first-time since the 2015-16 season, the last time they made the playoffs.
Led by second-year point guard LaMelo Ball and fourth-year forward Miles Bridges, the Hornets are a young, athletic team that are extremely fun to watch because of the way they can score in bunches.
Charlotte finished the regular season ranking fourth in points per game (115.3) and against a Hawks team that ranks 21st in opponent’s points per game this season, the Hornets could wind up advancing to Friday night’s final Play-In Game.
Both the Hawks and Hornets are two sneaky teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament and they are each facing some key questions heading into their matchup with one another on Wednesday night.
Can Charlotte’s Defense Continue Causing Problems for the Hawks?
All season long, the talk surrounding the Charlotte Hornets has been how good their offense has been. Things on the opposite-end of the floor however have not been so good for the Hornets, as they have allowed the sixth-most points to their opponents this season and rank 23rd in defensive rating.
Defense has definitely not been a selling point for the Hornets this season, yet they did hold their own against the Atlanta Hawks this season, allowing an average of 115.3 points per game to Atlanta.
This number does not seem like the Hornets held their own, but in four games against the Hawks, the Hornets turned Atlanta over 46 total times and scored a total of 72 points off of those turnovers, equating to about 1.6 points per turnover forced for the Hornets.
Given their ability to get out in transition and convert fast break opportunities, the Charlotte Hornets can be a very dangerous team when they are turning their opponents over.
Splitting their four-game season series with the Hawks, the main reason the Hornets won their two games against Atlanta was because of their ability to attack Trae Young and others defensively, turning them over and then pushing the pace of play.
This must be a point of emphasis for head coach James Borrego and the entire Hornets’ coaching staff once again.
Both Charlotte and Atlanta are going to score a lot of points in this matchup, as they are two of the better scoring team in the league this season, but the Hornets can really separate themselves in this game by speeding things up and forcing the Hawks to play at a faster pace, ultimately resulting in turnovers and potentially points on the other end of the floor for Charlotte.
Who Will Win the Battle of the Rebounds?
In four games this season, the Hawks have gathered 179 rebounds against the Hornets and the Hornets have gathered 187 rebounds against the Hawks.
There is very little separation between these two teams in terms of rebounding, which is why this will be a must-watch factor in the game on Wednesday.
For the season, the Hawks rank 12th in the league in rebounding compared to the Hornets ranking 20th, but this battle on the interior could very well decide the outcome of this game.
It is not a question of who will finish with more rebounds necessarily, but which players will step up to attack the glass and aid their team in rebounding?
Mason Plumlee for Charlotte and Clint Capela for Atlanta will do their jobs, but for Charlotte, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington will have to step up and play physically in the paint in terms of rebounding. For Atlanta, both Danilo Gallinari and De’Andre Hunter will have to do the same.
Offensive rebounds that can contribute to second-chance points in this game will be huge, as will getting defensive rebounds since whoever collects the most defensive rebounds can either slow things down or speed things up.
Keep an eye on the rebounding battle during the first-half of Wednesday night’s game because it should not come as a shock to see whoever has more rebounds in the first-half leading at halftime.
Is Terry Rozier The X-Factor for Charlotte?
Gordon Hayward is going to miss yet another game for the Charlotte Hornets, leaving them with questions about where their production will come from.
We know what to expect from LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges this season, but in order for Charlotte to potentially survive and advance, they are going to need Terry Rozier to step up in a big way.
Rozier had some big-time performances near the end of February and early on in March, but since then, he has taken a step back offensively and has scored 20 points in just two of his last eight games.
In three games against Atlanta this season, Rozier only averaged 11.7 points on 31.8% shooting.
Getting production from a third key scorer next to Bridges and Ball is essential for the Hornets not just in this game against the Hawks, but moving forward potentially into their next Play-In Game and then into the playoffs.
Terry Rozier is absolutely the X-factor for the Hornets in this matchup Wednesday night and he will need to show up offensively for them to have a chance to win.
Whether it is scoring for the perimeter or getting to the paint/free-throw line, Rozier has to take pressure off of Bridges and Ball for Charlotte against Atlanta on Wednesday night.
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