The Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat are both aiming to be contenders in the Eastern Conference as the race to finish behind the Cleveland Cavaliers is on. With the Cavaliers expected to dominate the conference, every other team is aiming for second place. That was the position the Hawks were in last season as the Heat hope to be there this year. Already off to a good start, the Heat believe they have momentum to start the year.
The Heat are coming off a comeback win over the Houston Rockets. Trailing 65-44 early, they got a big second-half spark and never looked back. Head coach Erik Spoelstra noted the team is very confident after the win following a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers before that. Dwyane Wade, Hassan Whiteside and Luol Deng led the way for the team against the Rockets as the trio expected to continue the success against a Hawks team that dominated them last season.
Atlanta rebounded after a surprising loss in their season opener to the Detroit Pistons. They followed that up with a win over the New York Knicks and then two victories over the Charlotte Hornets over the weekend. The Hawks have their own experience in comeback wins as they were trialing the Hornets in both games forcing fourth-quarter wins. Head coach Mike Budenholzer believes the challenges are good for the Hawks team still figuring out how to replace players like DeMarre Carroll.
The team is still aiming to find their offensive groove as they have not been as sharp shooting as they were last year. The Hawks were making 38.0 percent of their shots from behind the arc last season, but through four games this year they are merely shooting 32.0 percent. Kyle Korver, Al Horford and Jeff Teague are struggling with the long shot after being stars at it last season. Considering the slow start the Hawks had to the season last year, no one is hitting the panic button just yet while Korver is 4 for 14 from behind the line and Teague and Dennis Schroder are 3 for 13.
The Hawks will certainly get a challenge on the road against the Heat. Miami is a much improved team from the unit that has dropped six straight to Atlanta. They will get the chance to prove that Tuesday night.
