It’s time for that discussion about The Birds and The Bees. Relax, not that one! This one’s about two teams, the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets (7:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth), in the Queen City hoping to even up their records at .500. Following the “See, Whut Happened Wuz” play that flubbed the closing seconds of the game in San Antonio, Atlanta (1-2) is eager for an early-season road victory against a division foe.

Charlotte finally reached the postseason after record-breaking futility, once owner Michael Jordan stopped becoming a Meddler Extraordin-Air. Following a perceived high-profile free agent splash and a lottery pickup over the summertime, NBA 2K15 for the Hornets (2-3) is now Rated E for Expectations. With a reclaimed name and a revamped game, the purple-and-teal-clad Hornets are desperate to avert a buzz-killing letdown.

Scoring just 95.0 points per 100 possessions (4^th lowest in NBA) in their first five games while shooting 42.5% from the floor, though, probably won’t get it done. In their home opener, Charlotte had to claw back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter and needed an overtime jumper from Kemba Walker just to edge Milwaukee.

Perhaps saying more about Miami than Charlotte, the Hornets did manage to end their 16-game losing streak against another in-division opponent on Wednesday. Against the previously-undefeated HEAT, Charlotte got off of their three-game skid thanks to a season-best game (28 points, 10 boards, 3 swats) from their anchor, Al Jefferson, a 6-foot-10, 265-pound contortionist-in-the-paint who must have been a holy terror playing Twister as a kid.

He’s hit the fourth most field goals in the league to this point despite just two of them coming on dunks, relying on a silent-but-deadly array of layups, putbacks and hook shots. His post-moves have long been par excellence, and the Hawks will want to do whatever it takes to goad El Jefe into settling for jumpers (30.3 FG% on jumpshots), also denying the most simplistic of entry passes. If Jefferson gets a high volume of shots, Al Horford and the Hawks' defenders will prefer him positioned on the right side of the honeycomb floor, where he is far less of a threat (5-for-16 FGs) than the left side (26-for-52 FGs).

On the other end of the floor, Hornets coach Steve Clifford has slowed the game down enough where Jefferson can beast a little on defense, too, as he’s tied for 4^th in the league for blocks (2.2 per game). The inclusion of Lance Stephenson and former Hawks-fan punchline Marvin Williams into the starting lineup to play with the shot-revamping Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (game-time decision due to bruised ribs) and Jefferson, plus rookie Noah Vonleh (newly active, post-sports hernia), Gerald Henderson and occasional impediment Bismack Biyombo off the bench, makes Charlotte potentially the best defense in the league from the 2-through-5 spots.

Jumping from a $1 million contract to one that pays him a heady $9 mil per year, it is likely Stephenson came to the Carolinas to become an earth-shaking NBA headliner, and not just the superb role player he was in Indiana. Clifford is not quite convinced the Hornets’ summertime free agent prize was either Born or Ready to take over games in the clutch. Stephenson (6.6 PPG) sat on the bench in the fourth quarter of Charlotte’s game versus Memphis (a two-point defeat), during most of the final quarter in the wannabe-rapper’s home town of New York City (a three-point loss), and in the final quarter at New Orleans (a nine-point loss).

Lance has alleviated not only the pressures of defensive rebounding (10.0 RPG, 7.8 defensive RPG; 1^st among NBA non-bigs) for Jefferson, but the table-setting responsibilities (5.6 APG, 3^rd among non-NBA lead guards) for Kemba Walker as well. Despite that, Clifford has been more inclined to put Stephenson on Front Street than on Trade and Tryon, resulting from a combination of wayward shooting (26.7 FG%, 0-for-5 on threes), and perhaps errant passing (3.8 TO/game, through the first four games) in the precious few offensive sets Charlotte has. Clifford has turned toward the likes of Gary Neal (11.6 PPG; 39.6 FG%) to try and seal the deal, in lieu of Stephenson.

“He just didn’t play very well. I coach to win,” Clifford declared about Lance after last Saturday’s loss to Memphis, piling on the shade with a suggestion that he only deploys players “that know what they’re doing out there.” It wasn’t until Wednesday’s game against Miami that, armed with a 14-point lead, Clifford turned to Lance to hold the fort in the closing quarter. Stephenson is going to have to make better decisions in the flow of Clifford’s offense before he can be considered a reliable option at the end of close contests. And he has to avoid keeping the frustration to a minimum, unlike Wednesday when he got T’d up for a chippy flagrant foul punch aimed at Mario Chalmers, who sold the glancing blow like a WWE Intercontinental Champ.

Now, there’s no need to be seen getting close enough to foul a Hornet around the three-point line (Kyle!), as Charlotte’s shooting a subpar 30.3 percent while making 5.4 per game. Kemba Walker is connecting at a shade below 40 percent, but the Law of Averages applies to him. He and Neal (43.8 3FG%) are both shooting threes above their 2FG percentages for now, but they are merely setting opponents up in hopes of blow-by opportunities to create points from the elbows and in the lane. And we all know Marvin’s Little Jack Horner impression by now, but rather than lofting treys from the left corner (1-for-7 corner 3FGs so far), he may be more inclined to let some fly from above the arc (4-for-5 3FGs on the right side).

It will be intriguing to see whether we’ll see more of Dennis Schröder after his stunning 4^th-quarter display against the Spurs, or if Shelvin Mack gets his lion’s share of backup minutes again. In either case, Atlanta had better have a gameplan ready for backup point guard Brian Roberts, who tended to have his way with the Hawks as a Pelican (17.5 PPG and 5.5 APG vs. Atlanta) last season.

It remains to be seen if Marvin can put up enough resistance for Paul Millsap, whose 23.3 PPG was the highest scoring average last year against Eastern Conference teams, and whose +24.4 plus-minus average versus Utah (El Duckue’s former team) was the second-highest against anybody. If Paul commands a double-team it opens lots of options up for Atlanta’s offense. Charlotte may opt for a bigger body in Cody Zeller or Jason Maxiell as a counterweight, but they’ll want to keep up with Millsap around the perimeter as well.

The Hornets (93.5 Pace, 4^th lowest in NBA) want to play as much halfcourt action as possible and eat up the clock. Atlanta (10.0 steals/game, tied for 3^rd in NBA) can avoid the flytrap by constantly pressuring their distributors, disrupting the Hornets’ execution, and creating turnovers and fastbreak opportunities.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3