After losing three straight at home to three teams with a combined 40-97 record, the Nets travel to Atlanta, Anthony Morrow’s hometown, to take on the 27-20 Hawks. The Hawks are sixth in the Eastern Conference, despite playing without Al Horford for all but 11 games.
The Hawks are far from perfect — their best players the pretty-good-not-elite Joe Johnson and the poster boy for the phrase “far from perfect” Josh Smith — but they’re an excellent defensive team that routinely beats up on inferior squads with poorly run offenses. In their first matchup — a 106-70 drubbing — the Hawks cut down lanes to the basket, rotated out on shooters, and forced the Nets into taking bad shots. In the second matchup, the Nets couldn’t get into the lane on pick-and-rolls but knocked down more shots from outside to keep it close.
No idea what to expect tonight.
