Hey, a win! The Brooklyn Nets entered Wednesday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets searching for their first home win of the season. Thankfully for them, it finally came thanks to a big fourth quarter run as Brooklyn came away with a 114-104 victory.
Now, Brooklyn takes that momentum on the road, beginning a four-game trip against an Atlanta team coming off an offensive explosion. The Atlanta Hawks are hoping to go far in the postseason this year and position themselves for a promising future.
They helped the cause with a 139-132 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
Game Info and Details
- Matchup: Brooklyn Nets (2-6) vs. Atlanta Hawks (6-4)
- Time: 7:30 PM EST
- Location: State Farm Arena (Atlanta, GA)
- Watch: YES Network, DAZN, NBA League Pass
- Listen: WFAN Radio
Nets vs. Hawks Injury Report
Brooklyn Nets
- OUT – Egor Demin (right bone bruise)
- Questionable – Drake Powell (G-League assignment)
Atlanta Hawks
- OUT – Jalen Johnson (left ankle sprain)
- OUT – Jock Landale (left hip strain)
- OUT – Mouhamed Gueye (left foot fracture)
- OUT – Keshon Gilbert (left knee inflammation)
- OUT – Asa Newell (left great toe hyperextension)
- OUT – Henri Veesaar (right ACL tear)
This night one of a back-to-back for Brooklyn. We’ll see if anything changes before tip-off.
The Game
The Nets are on the first night of a back-to-back and first game of a four game road trip. They’ll head to Dallas for a Sunday evening matchup with the Mavericks.
The Hawks are on the second night of a home back-to-back. They wrap up their brief three game homestand on Monday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. They hope to do something big this spring, but they have their doubters. From Ricky O’Donnell at the mothership:
“This team doesn’t have enough force going to the basket, and the defense isn’t anything special despite generating a lot of takeaways and forcing misses from three. The Hawks look mid as always.“
We shall see.
It takes time to get used to someone in a new role. We’ve spent so much time with Nickeil Alexander-Walker being a solid bench role player that it’s still somewhat surprising to see him operate as a high(er) usage wing as a starter. Alexander-Walker won the Most Improved Player award last year and he’s carried that success over to this year. He’s averaging a career best 22.3 points per game, and most impressively is getting to the line over four times a game. When Johnson returns, we’ll see how the Hawks look to climb the standings.
Nolan Traore keeps stacking good days together. The second year guard had another good game as a starter on Wednesday night and he’s making a great case to remain the starter once Egor returns. Traore can get to the rim and is second on the team in drivesper game.
Player to watch: Kingston Flemings
We’ll get to watch a rookie who finally made his way into the starting lineup.
CJ McCollum requested that he come off the bench and the kid gets to start. With the Hawks looking to establish their future, a selfless decision like that from McCollum will go a long way in establishing Flemings as a key player going forward. For Atlanta, finding out what they have in Flemings will go a long way in determining their future. He’s played over 23 minutes in four out of the last five games and with this being night two of the b2b, we’ll see how long Quin Snyder plays him for.
Mikel Brown Jr is not on the injury report, so he’ll play tonight and will more than likely sit tomorrow night in Dallas. The Nets are continuing to build Brown Jr and trust that his growth will lead to an exciting future. The drives are there, but if the three pointers start to become consistent, the sky is the limit for him and the Nets. It’s all about making the most of the opportunities that are available to you.
From the Vault
Last weekend, the Atlanta Dream fell short in Game 7 of the WNBA Finalsagainst the Golden State Valkyries. The last do-or-die game to decide the W Finals was a pretty celebratory occasion around these parts.
More reading: Peachtree Hoops, Soaring Down South, Sports Illustrated, SB Nation NBA, New York Post, New York Daily News, Clutch Points, Nets Wire, Nets Insider, SNY, Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Steve’s Newsletter
