Hawks at Hornets
The Atlanta Hawks look like an NBA title contender whenever their offense is clicking, they just can’t seem to get it going consistently. The Hawks will try to make it three straight games scoring 120 or more point when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.
Atlanta is 3-3 in its last six games and is averaging 122.3 points in the three wins while managing an average of 95 in the three setbacks. The Hawks dropped back-to-back games to the New York Knicks before turning things around with a 126-98 triumph over lowly Philadelphia and carried that momentum into Saturday’s meeting against the Chicago Bulls, in which they shot 52.1 percent in a 120-105 victory. The Hornets know all about inconsistency, though their peaks and valleys tend to run longer and deeper. Charlotte looked like a playoff contender after a fourth straight win improved the team to 14-8 on Dec. 11, but it has since dropped 12 of 15, including seven straight, to plummet to the bottom of the Southeast Division.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta, Charlotte)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (23-15): Atlanta goes as center Al Horford goes of late, and the big man is averaging 12 points in the last three losses while putting up an average of 27 in the last three win. Horford put it all together on Saturday against a strong Chicago front line and ended up with a season-high 33 points on 15-of-21 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. “Al Horford … that was very, very special, and I think everybody kind of followed his lead,” head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. “He was very vocal in the timeouts, coming out on the court talking.”
ABOUT THE HORNETS (17-20): Charlotte finished up an 0-4 road trip with a 95-92 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday and shot 36.1 percent from the field in the setback. Cody Zeller, who has taken over at starting center with Al Jefferson out due to knee surgery, scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the loss but suggested that an improvement in team defense might be the key to a turnaround. “We've just got to get back on track, start playing defense," Zeller told reporters. "Get back to what we were doing at the beginning of the season, when we were winning."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks PG Jeff Teague (ankle) briefly left Saturday’s game and is probable to play on Wednesday.
2. Charlotte G Nicolas Batum (toe) returned from a four-game absence on Sunday and struggled to nine points on 3-of-8 shooting in 38 minutes.
3. Atlanta took the first two meetings this season by a total of five points.