The start of the regular season was seemingly designed to give the Atlanta Hawks a great start. However, the Charlotte Hornets disrupted those plans by upsetting the Hawks in Atlanta on Sunday.
Now, the Hawks' schedule gets tougher. A five-game road trip includes two games against the Detroit Pistons, the first of which is tonight. Below are the four keys to victory for the Hawks.
Defense
Hawks head coach Nate McMillan was unhappy with his team's performance on Sunday night. The usually unflappable coach said, "We didn't play f****** defense."
The Hawks surrendered 82 points in the second and third quarters against the Hornets. Following the upset loss, the Hawks' third-best defensive rating (99.0) dropped to 11th (107.5) in the league. It goes without saying what the team's top priority is tonight in Detroit.
Outside Shooting
To make matters worse, the Hawks struggled on offense against the Hornets as well. The team shot 41.1% from the field and 22.9% from three. Trae Young had an off night, compounded by Aaron and Justin Holiday shooting a combined 1-11 from the field.
The Hawks must find a way to space the floor while Bogdan Bogdanovic continues to rehabilitate his right knee. Coach McMillan even gave rookie AJ Griffin a shot on Sunday night, hoping to infuse some offense. The good news is Young, and his teammates will not stay cold for long.
Turnovers
One of the most underappreciated components of Young's game is his ballhandling. The undersized guard rarely turns it over despite his high usage rate. However, Dejounte Murray had four costly turnovers on Sunday, most of which were on half-hearted passes.
The Hawks are still tied with the New York Knicks for the fifth-fewest turnovers in the league. But when the margin for error is so slim in the NBA, the Hawks cannot afford to be careless with the basketball.
Transition
The Pistons are young and talented, but their squad is still a few years away from seriously competing on a nightly basis. One of the few areas where the Pistons excel is playing in transition.
Thanks to their young, athletic roster, the Pistons' pace is 11th in the NBA. However, the Hawks transition defense has significantly improved since last season. The Hawks only allow 9.7 fastbreak points per game, which is third-best in the league.
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