Not a great week for the Hawks.

This past week featured an impressive win against Utah, but the rest of the week was history. The Hawks youth surely showed up this week, and you could see the frustration from the players. You can tell that despite their record, the main goal is to compete and win games. “Tanking” or rebuilding is not in this team’s DNA, and you can see by how they fight night in and night out.

We found out this week that Dwight Howard may still have some tension with the Hawks after what he said before their matchup.

Dwight Howard on playing the Hawks tonight: “I wanna kill” them. (Hawks were the team that traded Howard to @hornets in June). — Rick Bonnell (@rick_bonnell) January 26, 2018

Many people would agree that Howard was done wrong after being traded from Atlanta. There were multiple sources saying that Howard was a cancer in the Hawks locker room. The funny thing is that the players have denied that rumor: so who should you believe? It is something to note that every team Howard has been on previously, the same type of rumors seem to come up.

The Hawks will see many familiar faces this upcoming week. The Hawks will see Dwight again this week as he returns to Atlanta. They’ll also see Tim Hardaway as they play the Knicks. This won’t be any better than last week though, as they play the Timberwolves (Jeff Teague) and the top seed in the eastern conference, the Boston Celtics (Al Horford). Before we get into those games, let’s take a look at the past week.

1/22 Vs Utah Jazz W 104-90

Hawks bounce back after horrible shooting night. Two nights before this game, the Hawks looked bad. They had one of their worst shooting games shooting 11/48 on 3s. They followed that performance up shooting 12/26 from the 3. After having a horrendous 2 weeks, Taurean Prince looked better in this game with 17 points. The Hawks ran with a 12 man rotation, and it looked like it affected Utah a lot. They put pressure on Donovan Mitchell all night as he couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm at all. This was definitely an impressive win for the team.

1/24 Vs Toronto Raptors L 108-93

Hawks struggle against the Raptors. The Hawks had no chance in this game from the beginning. They came out sloppy and were down double digits at the end of the first quarter. You could tell the Hawks were frustrated this game, and Malcolm Delaney went on Twitter following the game to issue an apology.

Apologize for that bs.. can’t let frustration take over preparation.. that was terrible — malcolm delaney (@foe23) January 25, 2018

Another thing about this game was that Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozan didn’t have their best games. They combined for 25 points on 7/22 shooting.

1/26 @ Charlotte Hornets L 121-110

Dwight welcomes Atlanta to Charlotte with another L. These two teams already saw each other earlier in the season. In that game, the Hawks had a huge lead and ended up blowing it. This game was a tight one until the Hornets pulled away late in the 4th quarter. Kemba Walker dissected the Hawks with 29 points. It was a big game for Kent Bazemore, as he finished the game with 26 points.

1/27 Vs Washington Wizards L 129-104

No Wall, no problem for the Wizards. This was the worst game for the Hawks this week. Despite John Wall not playing, the Hawks still managed to lose big time. From the opening tip to the end of the game, the team could not find a groove in any fashion. A bright spot for the team was Tyler Dorsey. Dorsey has found his way in the rotation as of late, and in this game, he scored a career-high 14 points.

What’s Up Next

1/29 Vs Minnesota Timberwolves (32-20)

For the past couple of years, the Hawks have struggled against the Timberwolves. With Jimmy Butler joining them this season, it won’t get any easier. We also get to welcome back Jeff Teague. who has had a solid year for the Wolves so far. I think the Wolves will be too much for the Hawks, from the perimeter and in the paint. Prediction: Timberwolves win 114-98

1/31 Vs Charlotte Hornets (20-28)

The Hawks just saw this team recently, but they’ll be in the Phillips Arena this time facing off. This will also be Dwight Howard’s first return to Atlanta after being traded in the offseason. Besides all the rumors, will he get booed or will he get a standing ovation? It might be 50/50, but we’ll see. The slump the Hawks have been in as of late, I don’t see them slowing down Kemba and the Hornet. Prediction: Hornets win 94-84

2/2 @ Boston Celtics (35-15)

Both games the Celtics and Hawks have played this season have come down to the wire. Sadly, the Celtics have won both. I expect another close game, especially since the Celtics have been in some sort of a slump lately. I still think Kyrie Irving’s late-game heroics will give the Celtics the win at the end. Prediction: Celtics win 107-105

2/4 @ New York Knicks (22-28)

The Hawks face Kristaps and Tim Hardaway. I think the Hawks will actually have a great chance to win this game. Dennis is going to show out, I promise. Prediction: Hawks win 103-90

News and Notes

The trade deadline is rapidly approaching. Watch out for the Hawks to make a move in the upcoming weeks.

John Collins will play for Team USA in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.

It was rumored that the Cavaliers were looking to trade for Kent Bazemore. He would be a great addition to their team.

DeAndre’ Bembry was diagnosed with an adductor strain and will be out 1-3 weeks. He posted on snapchat earlier today that he will be back soon.

It seems as if coach Bud doesn’t plan on taking Miles Plumlee out of the starting lineup anytime soon.

Tyler Dorsey is seeing increasing minutes and looks really impressive.

Record Last Week: 1-3

Total Season Record: 14-35. 15th in the East. 30th NBA.

Predicted Record This Week: 1-3

Malik Brown (@_MalikATL)

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