NBA Play-In Tournament: Three Keys to Victory for Atlanta Against Orlando On Tuesday

The NBA regular season is now in the rearview mirror and the the stakes are about to be raised in the league with the play-in tournament and playoff matchups. The first play-in tournament matchup is going to be on Tuesday night between the Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic. The winner of this game will clinch a spot in the playoffs as the No. 7 seed and will face the defending champion Boston Celtics in the first round. The two teams split the season series 2-2 this year, but one of them was yesterdays game in which Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongu, Caris LeVert, and Georges Niang all sat. The Magic have been a tough matchup for the Hawks this season, but Atlanta can win this game.

Here are three things they need to do to make that happen.

1. Limit Turnovers

Atlanta has to limit their turnovers in this game on Tuesday night. Orlando is one of the best teams in the NBA at forcing turnovers, ranking 2nd in the league with a 16.9% turnover percentage. Atlanta on the other hand is near the bottom of the league in turnovers, ranking 22nd on offense with a 15.0% turnover percentage per Cleaning the Glass. In the first three games against Orlando this season, the Hawks averaged 14.3 turnovers per game, including games where they had 18 and one where they had 16. Orlando loves to create chaos with turnovers and the Hawks have to limit that if they want to advance to the playoffs.

2. The Supporting Cast Needs To Step Up

Without Jalen Suggs (their best perimeter defender), the Magic don't have a great guard option to defend Trae Young. He has scored 19 points, 38 points, and 28 points in his three games against the Magic this year, but the Hawks supporting cast has not always been there. For example, in the February 20th matchup against the Magic, Young scores 38 points, but no other player had more than 13. Zaccharie Risacher was 4-15 from the field, Onyeka Okongwu only had 11, and Dyson Daniels was 3-15 from the field. The bench unit of Caris LeVert, Terance Mann, and Georges Niang was ineffective as well. No matter what Young does, the supporting cast has to be better on Tuesday night.

3. Zaccharie Risacher might be the X-Factor

This is a lot to put on a rookie, but given their injuries, the Hawks need a big game from Zaccharie Risacher on Tuesday. He has been ineffective in the first three matchup against Orlando, but his three-point shooting can change the game. Risacher is critical to Atlanta's three-point shooting and spacing and unless Orlando has a horrific game on offense (always possible), Atlanta needs scoring and shooting from Risacher in this game if they want to advance to the playoffs.

Additional Links

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