The Charlotte Hornets will be at Philips Arena to face off against a divisional foe in the Atlanta Hawks. Action starts at 3:30 pm ET on Sunday, Feb. 28 and can be seen on FxS and C+D.
The Hawks come into this game on a high note after beating the Bulls 103-88 on Friday. Jeff Teague was the team’s high scorer with 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting. The Hornets, meanwhile, are coming off a 96-95 win against the Pacers on Friday. Marvin Williams had a good performance, recording 26 points and 13 rebounds to claim his 10th double-double of the season.
Al Horford has been playing at a high level recently for the Hawks, averaging 17.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals, 3.2 blocks, and 1.4 three-pointers over the last five games.
Second-chance opportunities could be few and far between for the Hawks in this one. They rank 30th in the league in offensive rebounding (offensive rebound percentage of just 19.9%), while Charlotte is best in the NBA on the defensive glass (defensive rebound percentage of 79.7%). Also, the Hornets commit the second-fewest errors in the NBA (turnover percentage of 12.7%), while the disruptive defense of the Hawks causes the most (opponents’ turnover percentage of 16.1%).
The Hawks lead the season series against the Hornets two games to one, but dropped their most recent game, a 107-84 blowout. Kemba Walker scored a game-high 23 points.
The Hawks come into this game 32-27 Straight Up (SU) and 27-30-2 Against The Spread (ATS). Over their last 10 games, they have had success covering the spread (7-3). Atlanta has the second-most assists in the NBA, averaging 25.5 per game. Something to watch out for is if Atlanta can force its opponents into turnovers and convert them into baskets. They’ve done an excellent job of that all year with an average of 19.5 points off turnovers per game to lead the league.
Across the court, the Hornets head into the game with records of 29-27-1 ATS and 30-27 SU. In divisional games, Charlotte has gone 6-6 SU and 4-7-1 ATS. The Hornets are a terror on the defensive glass, averaging an impressive 34.7 defensive rebounds per game.
Charlotte beat Atlanta in their most recent meeting this season, but the win was not enough to overtake Atlanta in the most recent head-to-head series. Its record is now 4-6 SU over the last 10 meetings. On the other hand, with a 5-4-1 record, the Hornets have the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Atl
Notes
Atlanta ranks 12th in points per game with 102.5, while Charlotte ranks 11th in points allowed with an average of 100.9 given up.
Charlotte ranks 14th in points allowed per road game (103.3 PPG), while Atlanta ranks 14th in points per home game with 103.6.
In its last game, Charlotte won by a margin of one point. Atlanta is 4-6 in games decided by three points or less. Charlotte has a 4-5 record in close games.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Charlotte Hornets are a stellar 23-7. In games where they score fewer than 100 points, the Atlanta Hawks have an abysmal record of 5-21.
The Charlotte Hornets have a poor 7-20 record in games where they have allowed at least 100 points. The Atlanta Hawks are 27-6 when they hit the century mark.
The Hawks have a defensive rating of 100.5, third-best in the NBA. The Hornets also rank in the top half of the league for their offensive rating of 103.9 (ranked 14th).
Atlanta has an average field goal percentage of 45.8% (ranked 10th). Charlotte is a subpar 7-15 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Atlanta is 10th and sixth in the league for FG% and EFF% respectively, while Charlotte is 29th and 19th in these categories.
On average, the Atlanta Hawks make 25.5 assists per game and the Charlotte Hornets make 21.2. Atlanta is ranked second, while Charlotte is ranked 20th.
Atlanta makes an average of 5.5 blocks per game (ranked ninth), while Charlotte makes 5.1 blocks per game (ranked 13th).
The Atlanta Hawks are among the worst offensive rebounding teams (ranked 30th), while the Charlotte Hornets are one of the NBA’s top defensive rebounding teams (ranked fifth).
The Atlanta Hawks average 9.3 steals per game (ranked third). The Charlotte Hornets have a losing record of 7-11 when they allow at least 9 steals.
