The Hawks take the floor in front of their home fans for the first time this season on Saturday against the Rockets. Both teams are on the second night of a back-to-back, but Atlanta comes in off an emotionless 47-point rout of the Hornets. No starter played more than 29 minutes. The Hawks were back home before midnight.
Amen Thompson's block on Wemby at the rim with under a second left sealed a nice early-season win over the Spurs. (When is it too early to start talking about Fox coming off the bench?) With that being said, not all wins are equal. Houston finished after midnight, loses an hour coming east, and won't land in Atlanta until after 3 AM ET.
Houston ranked 27th in pace last season and has kept to it through two games, averaging 98 possessions to Atlanta's 109. Quin Snyder has his group bought in to team basketball, with 65 assists through the first two games. Everyone's chipping in, and Aaron Wiggins looks like a way too early candidate for Most Improved Player.
The Rockets like to play slow, in the half-court, heavily reliant on iso through KD and Sengun. That style does not match up well against a revved-up Hawks team in front of their home crowd. Keep an eye on VanVleet, who played 32 minutes on Friday in his second game back from the ACL. If Houston rests him on the back-to-back, this line will jump before tip. Atlanta at a near pick'em is the side.
Rockets vs Hawks prediction: Hawks -1.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -2.5.
