The Atlanta Hawks wrap up preseason play this week with two games, concluding a nine-day stretch in which they will have played five games.
OPPONENTS
Monday: Charlotte Hornets
Details: 7:30 p.m. (ET) | Philips Arena | No TV or Radio | Buy Tickets
Charlotte is expected to once again be a contender in perhaps the strongest division in the East. The Hornets (still werird to type) built on a strong 2013 summer in which they acquired Al Jefferson by having another good offseason this summer. Lance Stephenson gives them an elite wing defender, adding to coach Steve Clifford's fourth-ranked scoring defense from a season ago. Stephenson is also an athletic offensive weapon, joining Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Gerald Henderson and rookie P.J. Hairston to form a solid wing rotation. Kemba Walker was on the fringe of making his first All-Star team a season ago and should be better this season. Atlanta has had success against Charlotte in recent years, but this is probably the best team they've fielded in a while.
Wednesday: San Antonio Spurs
Details: 8:30 p.m. (ET) | AT&T Center | No TV, 92.9 The Game
The defending champions return everybody who played meaningful minutes from a season ago, and there's no reason not to consider them the favorites to repeat. Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard will miss the game with a serious eye infection, so we won't see him, but the rest of the bunch figures to get some meaningful minutes in the team's second-to-last tune up game. Point guard Tony Parker leads the league in preseason scoring, which may not carry a lot of weight but shows that he's in rhythm early. The frontcourt duo of Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter has give Atlanta problems in the past, but the Hawks are finally at full strength. Another fun thing to watch - these two teams have two of the best benches in the NBA. They play each other again in San Antonio 14 days from Wednesday.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Al Horford vs. Al Jefferson. The two best Als in the NBA are extremely fun to watch on the offensive end. Horford is a creative player with one of the best mid-range jumpers among bigs, while Jefferson is arguably the best offensive post player in basketball. It's great to see both healthy after they missed last year's playoffs with injuries.
IT PROBABLY WON'T HAPPEN, BUT WE HOPE IT DOES...
Paul Millsap scores 30 on Monday. We say that because he torched Charlotte last year, averaging 23.3 points in three games against them, the most of any opponent in the conference. He abused Josh McRoberts in the post. No McRoberts this year, and Millsap probably won't get enough minutes to score 30. But one can dream.
IT PROBABLY WILL HAPPEN, BUT WE HOPE IT DOESN'T...
The Spurs will beat us by two points. The last two regular season trips to San Antonio have ended that way for the Hawks. They also won by two in Atlanta in the preseason a year ago. It's an unfortunate trend.
INJURY REPORT
None to report. NONE TO REPORT! That's right, the Hawks have 17 available bodies for Monday's preseason game against the Hornets. It must be a relief for Coach Bud, who has dealt with injuries since taking over last season. With only 13 active players eligible for each regular season game, Bud might actually have to, dare we say, choose his inactives.
INTERESTING...
The Hawks lead the East in Assist Per 48 Minutes in the preseason. The Pistons are ahead of Atlanta in assists per game, but they played an overtime game.
FROM THE FANS