The Atlanta Hawks will attempt to begin the yr with three wins for the primary time in six seasons on Saturday night time after they face the Houston Rockets in Atlanta’s house opener.
The Hawks rolled over the Charlotte Hornets 128-81 on Friday and can attempt to go 3-0 for the primary time for the reason that 2020-21 crew did it and ended up reaching the Jap Convention last.
The Rockets are also undefeated, holding on to beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-110 on Friday. Houston hasn’t began with three straight wins since 2017-18, the season the Rockets misplaced within the Western Convention last.
“We’re excited,” Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson stated. “We’re excited to go play in entrance of our house crowd. We’re seeking to come out with the identical power on Saturday.”
Atlanta has been scoring a whole lot of factors — a mean of 130 within the first two video games — however has flourished due to its protection. Atlanta pressured 14 turnovers and restricted Charlotte to 43 factors within the first half whereas taking a 68-43 halftime lead. The Hawks completed with 17 steals, created 25 turnovers and wound up setting a membership document for the widest margin of victory (47 factors).
“This recreation is simply giving it to me, I am not going to lie, I am throwing it in my arms,” stated Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels, who has 12 steals in two video games. “I am simply making an attempt to come back out and be the very best on protection and have that create our offense, so get out and run.”
The Hawks have been led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker (a mean of twenty-two.5 factors a recreation) and Johnson (19.5 ppg, 10.5 rebounds, seven assists) and newcomer Aaron Wiggins (17.5 ppg).
Houston, in the meantime, survived an intense battle on Friday with the rival Spurs. The important thing play got here when 6-foot-7 Amen Thompson blocked 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama’s potential game-tying drive to the basket with 0.6 seconds remaining.
“When Wemby caught the ball, I simply thought he was going to be simply tall and attempt to rise excessive — and that is what he thought,” Houston’s Kevin Durant stated. “However Amen is only a freak athlete. It is insane how he obtained up so fast to dam that shot in opposition to the 7-4.”
The Rockets had three gamers with 20-plus factors in opposition to the Spurs: Alperen Sengun with 29, and Durant and Thompson with 20 apiece.
Durant has all the time been a matchup downside for the Hawks. In 34 profession video games in opposition to Atlanta, he’s averaging 29.3 factors, 6.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists a recreation. He scored 31 and 25 factors in opposition to Atlanta final season.
“We will have a look at this and get some movie from it and see how we are able to get higher,” Durant stated. “We have one other recreation in Atlanta tomorrow, so we are able to hopefully construct on this.”
The Rockets gained each video games in opposition to the Hawks final season, prevailing by 18 and 22 factors in a pair of non-competitive contests. Houston has gained 4 video games in a row in opposition to the Hawks, together with the final two in Atlanta. The crew will play once more on Monday in Houston to finish the season collection.
The Rockets plan to relaxation Fred VanVleet on Saturday. The veteran missed final season with proper ACL surgical procedure and can sit out the second night time of Houston’s back-to-back set due to load administration; he performed 31 minutes and scored 14 factors in opposition to the Spurs.
Steven Adams (proper calf) was capable of play nearly 9 minutes on Friday after being listed as questionable.
–Subject Degree Media
