The Atlanta Hawks enter Monday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans on a three-game winning streak and they have a perfect opportunity to extend it to four. The Pelicans may have been the unluckiest team in the NBA this season in terms of injuries and they are still very hurt going into this game. Also, New Orleans played New York last night and got knocked out by the Knicks. The Hawks had a day off yesterday after winning Saturday against the Hornets.

Before tonight’s game, the Pelicans reclassified Brandon Ingram to questionable and Herb Jones is doubtful. They will be without Zion Williamson, Jordan Hawkins and Jose Alvarado.

This would increase New Orleans’ chances of winning tonight if he is able to play. Although they will still be missing players, Ingram, Dejounte Murray and CJ McCollum can still do enough to beat the Hawks if they don’t play well.

This is a game that has been circled on both teams’ schedules since the NBA schedule was officially released. This will be the first game Dejounte Murray plays in Atlanta since being traded to New Orleans this summer.

Heading into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 9th in the NBA in PPG, 15th in FG%, 20th in 3PA, 20th in 3P%, 5th in FTA, 27th in turnovers and 8th in rebounding. By Clean the glassAtlanta is 19th in points per 100 possessions, 19th in field goal percentage, 22nd in turnover percentage, 7th in offensive rebound percentage and 9th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 28th in PPG allowed, 14th in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. According to Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions and 25th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

A lot of this is due to injuries, but the Pelicans have been one of the worst teams in the NBA and the stats show it. New Orleans is 30th in PPG, 28th in FG%, 28th in 3PA, 27th in 3P%, 25th in FTA, 16th in rebounding and 18th in turnovers. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Pelicans are 29th in points per 100 possessions, 30th in field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 8th in offensive rebound percentage and 25th in free throw rate.

Defensively, New Orleans is 23rd in PPG allowed, 27th in FG% allowed, 24th in 3PA allowed and 27th in 3P% allowed. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Pelicans are 29th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 30th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Trae Young has been playing very well lately, but didn’t make a huge impact in the game against the Hornets on Saturday. He scored 14 points and had five assists and only shot the ball nine times. Young has been more of a facilitator this year and setting up his teammates, which has led him to lead the NBA in assists.

Dyson Daniels has set the tone defensively for the Hawks this season and did the same on Saturday. He will be tasked with guarding Murray or CJ McCollum tonight and not allowing them to get hot scores. Daniels will look to get his scoring back on track as it hasn’t been in double digits in the last two games.

Zaccharie Risacher continues to improve and has had two very good matches in a row. He played 25 minutes Saturday and shot 6-10 (2-4 threes) and had 14 points, along with two blocks. He is progressing well and making winning plays on both ends of the field.

Jalen Johnson is starting to make his case to be an All-Star this season. He scored 20 points on 9-12 shooting Saturday and also had nine assists. He’s scored at least 20 points in five straight games and he should be able to get what he wants against the Pelicans tonight.

Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu will face rookie center Yves Missi tonight and while both centers haven’t been consistent, they both played well on Saturday. Capela played 19 minutes on Saturday and scored 4 points and 14 rebounds while Okongwu had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hawks bench has been great in their winning streak and after not playing on Saturday, Bogdan Bogdanovic should be back tonight. De’Andre Hunter continued to play well and scored 18 points on Saturday, and Kobe Bufkin is starting to look more comfortable in his role. The Hawks have rolled with a nine-man rotation this season when healthy and that will likely stay the same unless they get a big enough lead over New Orleans.

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The Atlanta Hawks have a huge opportunity in front of them against big-name opponents this week

Updated Eastern Conference Rankings: Hawks’ winning streak puts them within striking distance of top four seeds