Hawks aim for road upset against top-seeded Pistons despite Cade Cunningham's absence. Can surging Atlanta capitalize on the national stage?
The Atlanta Hawks have a big test on Wednesday night as they take to the road to face the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons, on ESPN. It's a rare ESPN game for the Hawks, who have the best record in the NBA since the All-Star break.
Detroit will be without star Cade Cunningham, and the Hawks are still awaiting the official injury status of Jalen Johnson, who is dealing with shoulder inflammation.
The Hawks are surging in the East and are riding an 11-game home winning streak. Aside from Jalen Johnson, Atlanta's injury report sheet is clean. Important to note during the Hawks' recent winning stretch: Atlanta is 8-0 when Jonathan Kuminga appears on the court.
Atlanta is a 2.5-point underdog against the Pistons on Wednesday night. The Hawks are 19-16 on the road this season, and 40-32. Atlanta is the current sixth seed in the East, but is just 0.5 game back of the Toronto Raptors for the fifth seed.
The Pistons have regressed a bit since Cade Cunningham's injury (obviously), but this matchup provides the Hawks with a big opportunity to show how good they are on a national stage.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is posting a strong case for Eastern Conference Player of the Month during March, and his scoring average this month is 23.3 points per game.
Atlanta has won 13 of its last 14 contests and scored 120+ points in 10 of those victories. Backed by exceptional team basketball, the Hawks have also made a stronger effort defensively on a nightly basis, and you have to give a lot of credit to head coach Quin Snyder for the job he's done in the last two months.
Sports Illustrated did a game preview of the big Eastern Conference matchup and gave some important numbers pertaining to the Hawks:
"The Hawks' offense ran all over a Grizzlies lineup extremely devoid of talent. Still, they are 7th in points, 13th in FG%, 6th in 3P%, 19th in FT%, 17th in rebounds (21st in OREB, 12th in DREB), 1st in assists, and 13th in turnovers per game. They're 14th in offensive rating this year."