The Portland Trail Blazers face off against the Atlanta Hawks tonight.
Today, the Portland Trail Blazers travel to Atlanta to take on a scrappy Hawks team. Each club will look to extend winning streaks (Blazers to six; Hawks to four) and carry momentum into the end of the year, albeit for very different reasons.
The Blazers (47-27) find themselves a half-game ahead of the Houston Rockets for third place in the Western Conference standings. Following the losses of CJ McCollum to a knee strain and Jusuf Nurkic to a compound fracture, the team will want to secure homecourt advantage this postseason to give themselves the easiest path for getting over their first round barrier.
The Hawks were eliminated from the playoff conversation from the get-go, as outlets like ESPN projected them to have the worst record in the NBA this season. Recently, though, the club has performed well. Their 27-48 record is not eye-popping, but they’ve given several clubs a run for their money as their young pieces have jelled.
Since the All-Star Break, Atlanta ranks eighth in offensive rating (112.2) and essentially holds an even net rating (0.1). During this same stretch, the Hawks’ two prized prospects have blossomed. No. 5 overall pick Trae Young is putting up 25.8 points, nine assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game on .405 shooting from deep and has begun challenging the idea of Dallas’s Luka Doncic being the clear Rookie of the Year. Last year’s No. 19 pick John Collins has been solid all year and is now averaging a double-double over his previous 14 games with 19.8 points and 10.2 boards.
No doubt, the future in Atlanta looks bright.
The near future for the Blazers does not carry the same warm and fuzzy feelings, with their second and third best players sidelined. However, the immediate future – i.e. this game – shouldn’t be too dark at all.
Damian Lillard is clearly the best player between these two teams. He should have his way against Young, who, for as great as he’s been offensively, is just as big a defensive liability with his feathery frame.
The hope should be that Dame can clip the Hawks’ wings early, so that Portland Head Coach Terry Stotts has more space to tinker with different lineup combinations in the wake of McCollum and Nurkic’s injuries. They got a healthy dose of tinker-time when they blew out the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, even getting Anfernee Simons, Gary Trent, and Skal Labissiere minutes in the fourth quarter.
Atlanta will be a much tougher matchup than Chicago was. However, tonight’s game is still the type of winnable game against an inexperienced and young teams should capitalize on for as much experimentation time before April 11.
Catch Blazers-Hawks at 4:30 P.S.T.
(Atlanta’s Taurean Prince is listed as doubtful for today’s game.)