Denver Nuggets vs. Atlanta Hawks is battle of teamness

Season series: Hawks 1-0

After starting the road trip 0-2 against the Magic and the Heat, the Nuggets will look to bounce back against a soaring Hawks team that have won eight of their last 10 games. Last time the Nuggets were undone by the Atlanta big men as they combined for a whopping 40 points on the night.

The Nuggets big men constantly have trouble guarding the perimeter and all five Hawks starters have the ability to shoot all the way out to the three. A recipe for disaster unless Malone and the Nuggets can figure out an antidote as even the center for the team, Al Horford, shot 2-3 from three last game and 35.3 percent on the year. Just as a reference, that’s a better percentage than Gary Harris from three.

Expect Mike Malone to go to his small-ball lineup early and often as the ability for all players on the court being able to switch should be critical in thie contest. This should also serve as a good indicator of whether or not the head coach believes Nikola Jokic is match-up proof or if he will opt for a quicker line-up with Darrell Arthur and Kenneth Faried.

Injury report:

Nuggets: Wilson Chandler – out (right hip arthroscopic surgery), Danilo Gallinari – out (two torn lateral ligaments and medial ligament sprain in right ankle)

Hawks: Tiago Splitter – out (right hip surgery)

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As the Nuggets strive for success with the help of “teamness”, a favorite phrase of ex-Nuggets coach George Karl, they face off against the team that is the living embodiment of the very thing they are trying to become.

The Hawks are the proud owners of a 39-29 record, one game shy of the Eastern Conference third seed. How are they doing this without a single house-hold name on their roster?

Teamness.

Atlanta is second in assists with 25.4 per game, behind only the legendary season of Golden State. They’re extremely consistent sharing the ball as an eye-popping 65.9 percent of their baskets are off of assists and rarely have a selfish night having at least 20 assists in all but six games this season.

Incredible unselfishness and a testament to how much rising head coach Mike (there must be something with this first name and great coaching chops) Budenholzer has gotten the team to buy in.

Not only do the Hawks pass often, they pass with deliberation. Atlanta has put an emphasis on valuing the basketball owning a very good 1.74 assist to turnover ratio, something the Nuggets are struggling with at the moment. If Denver is to have any success tonight they must protect the basketball, something I’m sure Malone is discussing at lengths because…

Costly mistakes

The Nuggets are averaging a sloppy 14.2 turnovers per game, a habit they will need to quickly correct as the Hawks are not only elite at creating turnovers (16.6 per game, third in the league) but also the number one team at making them pay, scoring 19.2 points per game off their opponents’ mistakes.

They are also third in the league with steals, swiping 9.3 balls per game, and have four players averaging more than a steal a game in Teague, Millsap, Thabo Sefolosha and Bazemore.

If the Nuggets do not value the ball tonight, it will surely spell their doom.