Peachtree Hoops: Game 8: Hawks vs. Kings

[Hawksquawk]

Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

One more before the road trip.

Wednesday night’s game was one to forget for the Atlanta Hawks, with the team flopping in a 20-point loss to the Chicago Bulls. After a day off to recover, the Hawks are back in action on Friday evening at State Farm Arena (for the third time in four days) and the Sacramento Kings are in town for their annual visit.

The Kings dominated the season series between the two teams last season, sweeping the Hawks by a total of 53 points. This season, however, Sacramento has not lived up to expectations in the early going, though it should be noted that the Kings have played improved basketball this week, winning two of the last three games.

On the injury front, the Hawks don’t have any unexpected absences (at the time of this post), though the absence of John Collins continues to leave an impact. For the Kings, old friend Dewayne Dedmon is listed as questionable with a right knee sprain and Sacramento continues to operate without second-year big man Marvin Bagley III after he sustained a right thumb fracture.

The good folks in Las Vegas essentially expect a coin flip game in this instance, with the Hawks opening as small betting favorites and the Kings now sitting as 1.5-point favorites as of Friday morning. Atlanta has a bit of extra emphasis after a disappointing showing on Wednesday but, beyond that, the Hawks face a gauntlet of a West Coast trip beginning on Sunday. That could leave some urgency for the home team in this spot.

It will be interesting to see how the Hawks match up with a Kings team that gave them fits a year ago, particularly with the kind of tempo engineered by De’Aaron Fox. Sacramento hasn’t been able to impose its will on the opposition to that degree this season but, if nothing else, it should be an entertaining battle between two young, talented teams in Atlanta on Friday evening.

Stay tuned throughout the day and be encouraged to utilize the comments below as a “game thread” for the action.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 8, 7:30 pm ET

Location: State Farm Arena

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network

Streaming: Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass

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