Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks preview: A BK homestand

SB Nation

Still nothing on the board. The Brooklyn Nets took on the Houston Rockets Monday night and were never really in it as the Rockets cruised to a 28 point victory. It was Houston’s first win of the year while

the Nets remain winless.

The opponent tonight is hoping to get back on track. The Atlanta Hawks were on the road Monday night to face the Chicago Bulls, but couldn’t bring it home late and suffered a close loss.

Where to follow the game

YES Network on TV. Gotham Sports on streaming. WFAN on radio. Tip after 7:30 p.m. ET.

Injuries

No Haywood Highsmith. Ziaire Williams is questionable after his bad fall two games back. Egor Dëmin missed Monday’s game as the second leg of a back-to-back, but he’s back. Drake Powell and Danny Wolf will be with the big club tonight.

Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher are both probable with right ankle sprains.

The game

The Nets need to show something. What’s the something? Take your pick! Show better attention on defense, get back in transition, etc. It’s been an ugly start to the season so far and the defense has been one of the worst in the NBA. Steve Lichtenstein identifies one of the biggest problems:

“Look, Claxton’s impact, or lack thereof, is far from the only problem with Brooklyn’s defense, as I delineated in my last post (It’s On Fernandez To Fix Nets’ Indefensible D). But having someone who is considered an elite rim protector is supposed to compensate for a host of perimeter defenders’ sins; in fact, those defenders are often encouraged to play more aggressively because of a player like Claxton’s presence behind them.

Well, Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernandez seems to be imploring that whoever is guarding the ball must get into their men…and the results have been dunkathons. Literally. In the early going, no team has been dunked on more than Brooklyn, according to basketball-reference.com. Yes, Nets rookies Ben Saraf and Nolan Traore were exposed in Houston, with the vastly more athletic Rockets going around or right through them en route to the hoop. But where was the weak-side help?“

Oof.

Whoever controls the glass will likely win the game. Both teams are in the bottom four in rebound percentage and when you don’t do your work to secure possessions, you wind up creating trouble for yourself. For the Nets, that starts with Claxton. He’ll need to be more forceful on the boards and work to prevent the Hawks from finishing at the rim and clean up any mistakes his teammates make on the perimeter. Brooklyn needs to play with a lot more force, and that starts with their center.

Kristaps Porzingis is looking to get back to star quality play in a new city. He was instrumental to the Celtics’ 2024 championship run, but was limited in the 2025 playoffs due to Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. He’s over it now thankfully and he can return to playing like normal. When he’s at his best, he’s a plus rim protector, solid post option, good pick and roll partner, and all around gamebreaker.

We’ll get to see a player that has All-Star potential tonight. Jalen Johnson has been the Hawks’ best player thus far and we’re starting to see him put everything together. He hasn’t made a three yet, but who cares about that when you’re making over 70% of your shots inside of three feet. Johnson does a little bit of everything and as the Hawks look to go on a run, he’ll be a big part of it.

Michael Porter Jr will look to carry some of the scoring load next to Cam Thomas. Offense is hard to come by for the Nets, and if they want to start winning games, they’re both gonna have to go for 20+ points a night. We knew what the deal was going to be for the Nets this season, but it’s somehow managed to go worse than we thought. If the duo isn’t able to consistently put up big scoring numbers while being efficient, winning becomes next to impossible for Brooklyn.

Player to watch: Trae Young

The Hawks need more from their franchise player. So far, he’s only shooting 36.4% from the field and a ghastly 19.2% from 3-point range. You can’t prosper when your lead option and face of the franchise is playing like this and if the Hawks want to meet expectations, Young will need to be a lot better. It’s still early in the NBA calendar, and by the time the Nets see the Hawks again in February, Trae might be at his usual numbers. But for now, it’s a slump for one of the game’s leading engines.

Guard play has been hit or miss for the Nets, and we’ll see if their rookies can put a good outing together. Ben Saraf and Egor Dëmin have had their moments, but it’s tough for rookies early in their NBA careers. They just have to keep plugging away and learning from each experience. It’s tough now, but they just have to keep plugging away and hopefully things turn around.

From the Vault

I watched an Allen Iverson documentary on Amazon Prime a few days ago and would recommend it! With that in mind, let’s watch AI go to work against a darn good late 90s Hawks team