Preview: Suns Face Hawks in Sunday Night Clash

One streak has to go. The Hawks are sitting at 8-5, riding a four-game winning streak entering their matchup versus the Suns.

Atlanta is averaging 123.0 points in those games. The Hawks will test Phoenix's defense which is something that head coach Jordan Ott is emphasizing.

“They’re high energy athletes, multiple guys who can dribble, pass and shoot," Ott said on Saturday, via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin. "Puts you in a lot of different disadvantages on their offensive end. Defensively, they’re big. They force turnovers. Coming in playing well.”

Atlanta is No. 5 in opponent turnovers (16.7) per contest. Phoenix will need to take care of the basketball and have high assist numbers to take down the Hawks.

Update on Suns' Mark Williams

The Suns removed Mark Williams from their injury report ahead of Sunday's clash with Atlanta.

Williams was out on Thursday for right knee injury management, just his second game missed all season as the Suns are doing their best to be careful with the former Charlotte Hornets big man, who was acquired at the NBA Draft after struggling to stay healthy in his first three seasons.

“We haven’t had any setbacks, so that part has been good. He feels good. He’s in a great place. He continues to progress," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of Williams (h/t Duane Rankin).

"Again, this is 82 games. We’re early into this. Didn’t do a ton on the court in the preseason. So we’re still early into this whole plan, but it’s been great. Again, it gets back to how he’s feeling and his input into all of this that has been really positive for us."

Williams has been a key force for the Suns this season, anchoring their starting center spot, averaging 11.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per night.

Suns Must Overcome Two Key Absences to Beat Hawks

The Suns will continue to be without their star guard, Jalen Green, who will be out with a right hamstring strain. Green should give the Suns a significant boost offensively, but he will not return until sometime next month at the earliest.

Additionally, the Suns will be without Grayson Allen, who is nursing a quad contusion.

“We’ll continue to see how he gets out of this,” Ott said after practice (h/t Duane Rankin) on Allen.

“Stick to day-to-day. We just walked through a lot today. Nothing up and down, nothing live. Good to have these two days in between. We need it. It doesn’t seem too bad.”