Four Keys to Atlanta Hawks Beating Charlotte Hornets
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Against all odds, the Atlanta Hawks are on a roll. After weeks of negative headlines about internal drama, the team has righted the ship midway through the season. Last night, Atlanta extended their winning streak to five games with a down-right fun win over the New York Knicks.
While they are running on little rest, Atlanta cannot let an excellent opportunity at picking up a win tonight slip away. The Charlotte Hornets delivered a beatdown to Atlanta in October and received one in December. Below are our four keys to victory tonight for Atlanta.
Ball Movement
During last night's win over New York, Atlanta played an unselfish brand of basketball. In fact, for much of the past five games, Atlanta has been visibly having more fun on the court. Their passes per game and assist numbers have remained steady, and shooting splits are unmoved. Atlanta does not have to reinvent the wheel but just keep getting everyone involved.
Pace
Everyone sounds like a broken record when discussing the tempo Atlanta needs to play with on the court. Coaches, players, and the media all agree that faster is better for Atlanta.
Atlanta ranks ninth, and Charlotte ranks tenth in pace. However, with LaMelo Ball (ankle) doubtful for tonight's game, that could potentially slow down Charlotte's offensive engine. Atlanta must keep their foot on the gas.
Protect the Paint
Charlotte is one of the few teams with worse outside shooting than Atlanta - in fact, they rank last in three-point percentage. However, they make up for it by getting into the paint. As a result, Charlotte ranks third in shots attempted at the rim.
Now that Atlanta's frontcourt is fully healthy and the entire team is executing better on defense, there should be no excuse for allowing Charlotte to get to the rim unabated.
Rebounding
Atlanta is an average rebounding team, and Charlotte is an excellent rebounding team. Charlotte is top-five in rebounds per game and seventh in second-chance points.
Building off our last point, controlling the glass is vital for Atlanta. They dominated the boards last night against New York (sans Mitchell Robinson), and that should remain their goal in tonight's matchup.
