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Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks

Sat Nov 77:30 PM ETDAZN (YES)Atlanta, GA
By JR·2 min read
Nets(2-6)
Hawks(6-4)
121—124
FINAL

TLDR: Atlanta has won 3 straight without its All-Star forward, and the reward is a quick turnaround Saturday night against a Brooklyn team that has finally started stacking wins. The Nets are 2-6, but they show up at State Farm Arena with fresh legs, and the Hawks won't have them.

FINAL · SUN NOV 8, 12:30 AMDAZN (YES)
Nets
(2-6)
WLWLL
121
Hawks
(6-4)
WWWLW
124
Final1Q2Q3Q4QT
BKN
37332526121
ATL
27392236124

Atlanta (6-4) has won 3 straight without Jalen Johnson, but it plays Brooklyn on the 2nd night of a back-to-back with its frontcourt gutted by injuries, and Johnson is listed questionable with his ankle sprain. The rested Nets (2-6) have won 2 of their last 3 and bring the size, through Randle, Porter Jr. and a day-to-day Sharpe, to test a thin Hawks rotation, though Clowney is also day-to-day. Whether Johnson plays is the biggest unknown going in.

Brooklyn Nets
  • 2 days' rest against a team on a back-to-back
  • Randle, Porter Jr. size against a depleted Hawks frontcourt
  • Traore steadying the point guard spot
  • Offense cratered for 94 and 90 in 2 losses
  • Sharpe, Clowney day-to-day; Demin and Bilodeau out
  • 2-6 overall, opening a 4-game road trip
Atlanta Hawks
  • 3-0 without Jalen Johnson since the ankle sprain
  • Dort hot as fill-in starter, 25 on Friday
  • Johnson questionable, not ruled out, for Saturday
  • 2nd night of a back-to-back after a 139-132 shootout
  • Landale, Newell, Gueye, Veesaar out; frontcourt nearly empty
  • Win streak came against Indiana and Washington twice

The Hawks have spent the week winning ugly and winning short. Jalen Johnson sprained his left ankle in the 99-121 loss at New Orleans and has missed 3 straight games since, all of them Atlanta wins: at Indiana, then 2 against Washington. Luguentz Dort moved into the starting spot and dropped 25 points with 5 threes in Friday's 139-132 shootout over the Wizards. That's a nice story. It's also a 3-game sample against 2 bad defenses.

The schedule matters more than the streak here. Atlanta played Friday night and tips again Saturday at 7:30 PM ET, while Brooklyn last played Wednesday and has had 2 days to sit around. The Hawks' frontcourt is close to empty: Jock Landale (hip), Asa Newell (toe), Mouhamed Gueye (foot surgery) and Henri Veesaar (torn ACL, out for the season) were all on the shelf for Friday, along with guard Keshon Gilbert (knee). Johnson's ankle is still the call that decides how this one looks. Atlanta has him listed as questionable for Saturday with the left ankle sprain, so the morning-of answer is still a maybe, and a decision may not come until close to tip.

Brooklyn has the size this matchup asks for. Day'Ron Sharpe, listed day-to-day, put up 15 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes in the 98-90 win at Indiana, and Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. give the Nets 2 forwards who can bully a thin rotation. Porter had 26 and 10 and Randle added 22 when Brooklyn came back on Charlotte. The Nets have their own question marks up front, though. Noah Clowney is listed day-to-day with a knee injury, and Egor Demin is still out.

The Nets' 2-6 record isn't misleading, but there's a little more going on than the record shows. They lost by 1 in Boston, and they were down 7 at halftime against the Hornets before winning the 2nd half 64-47. Nolan Traore has been the pleasant surprise. After a forgettable rookie year he looks like a real NBA point guard, and he hit 4 second-half threes to beat the Pacers for Brooklyn's first win. The bad nights have been very bad, though: 94 points against Detroit and 90 against the Knicks. When the offense stalls, it stalls completely.

Brooklyn Nets
(2-6)
11/05WvsHornets114-104
11/03L@Knicks90-103
11/01W@Pacers98-90
10/30LvsPistons94-110
10/27L@Celtics124-125
Atlanta Hawks
(6-4)
11/07WvsWizards139-132
11/05W@Wizards120-105
11/03W@Pacers108-104
10/31L@Pelicans99-121
10/30WvsCavaliers114-111

So it comes down to this. Atlanta is the better team, at home, on a 3-game win streak, playing its 2nd game in 2 nights with almost no big men. Brooklyn is the worse team with the rest edge and the bodies inside. This is the first stop on a 4-game road trip for the Nets, and if the Hawks' shorthanded rotation runs out of gas late, a rested Brooklyn team can steal one here. If Johnson gets cleared from questionable and plays, most of that goes away.

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