Kings at Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks might be the most impressive team in the NBA through the first two games of the season, though they have yet to face a team that made the playoffs last season. The Hawks will get another team that spent last spring outside of NBA arenas when the Sacramento Kings visit on Monday.
Atlanta brought Dwight Howard to his hometown with a three-year contract over the summer and have no buyer's remorse after watching the former star haul in 19 rebounds in a 114-99 win over the Washington Wizards in the opener and seven more in just 19 minutes on Saturday as the Hawks rolled over the Philadelphia 76ers 104-72. "No matter if Dwight isn’t scoring or rebounding, he’s still a presence down there for us," Atlanta guard Kyle Korver told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "They still have to respect that, and it still opens things up for everyone else." Howard will get his toughest competition from an opposing center thus far in Kings star DeMarcus Cousins, who is averaging 30 points and 9.7 rebounds through three games. Cousins is the obvious focus of the opposition's defense in the early going and is averaging 15.3 free-throw attempts.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE KINGS (2-1): Sacramento coach Dave Joerger is trying to turn his team into a defensive power, and veteran Matt Barnes was credited with providing the energy at that end the team needed to escape with a 106-103 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. Barnes collected 12 points, nine assists and five rebounds but Joerger thinks his biggest contributions are outside the boxscore. "He’s such a competitor," Joerger told reporters. "You might see a couple threes go in but what it takes a real eye to see is the little things that he does, the switching and helping guys get in places on the floor for sets. He did a great job defensively on the ball, off the ball and getting some rebounds."
ABOUT THE HAWKS (2-0): Atlanta is putting a lot of trust in point guard Dennis Schroder, who signed a four-year extension on the eve of the regular season after taking over the starting role when Jeff Teague was dealt to Indiana over the summer. The 23-year-old is earning that trust thus far and is 10-of-19 from the field while working to build a pick-and-roll relationship with Howard. Schroder had a nice relationship with most of his teammates on Saturday, when he handed out 11 assists in 28 minutes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings starting SG Arron Afflalo is averaging 6.7 points on 31.8 percent shooting.
2. Atlanta F Mike Scott (knee) has yet to make his season debut and remains day-to-day.
3. Sacramento snapped a 15-game losing streak in the series with a 91-88 home win in the last meeting on Jan. 21.