The Nets will play their first game in New Jersey in nine days when they take on the Atlanta Hawks at the Prudential Center tonight. The game will the the first half of a pre-Thanksgiving back-t0-back, which will also include a road date tomorrow with the Boston Celtics before having two days off for the holiday.
The reason the Nets have been spending so much time away from home lately is a four-game road trip that started out well with a win over the Clippers, but ended disappointingly with three straight losses to the Jazz, Kings and Nuggets. The trip saw the return of Terrence Williams, the emergence of Kris Humphries and respectable performances against two of the better teams in the NBA, but the results were ultimately something only to be praised in a game of horseshoes. After the 1-3 trip, the Nets have fallen to 4-9, which places them above only the 76ers in the Eastern Conference standings.
On the injury front, Quinton Ross will miss tonight’s game with a calf injury he sustained during the game against the Kings. The ailing Troy Murphy practiced with the team, but will be inactive for tonight’s game and will not make the trip to Boston for tomorrow’s game.
Meanwhile, the Hawks have been sputtering of late after a red-hot start. Atlanta got out of the gate 6-0, but has since dropped six of its last eight, including a 23-point loss at the hands of the Celtics last night at the Philips Arena. In that span, the six losses came against playoff teams from last year, while the two wins came against 2010 lottery qualifiers (Minnesota and Indiana).
The Hawks’ roster remains familiar to fans who’ve watched them over the last several years, after the team retained shooting guard Joe Johnson with what ended up being the biggest free agent contract handed out during the much-discussed off-season of 2010. The 29-year-old signed a six-year, $119-million dollar deal to remain a Hawk after much speculation that he would leave town to team up with one of the other marquee free agents available. Johnson is the Hawks’ leading scorer again this year after averaging 21.3 points per game last season.
Atlanta Hawks (8-6) Projected Starting Lineup
- PG Mike Bibby: 10.7 ppg, 3.5 apg
- SG Joe Johnson: 17.6 ppg, 5.0 apg
- SF Marvin Williams: 8.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg
- PF Josh Smith: 15.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.4 spg, 2.8 bpg
- C Al Horford: 16.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg
New Jersey Nets (4-9) Projected Starting Lineup
- PG Devin Harris: 16.8 ppg, 6.8 apg
- SG Anthony Morrow: 12.2 ppg, .383 3p%
- SF Travis Outlaw: 12.1 ppg, .434 3p%
- PF Kris Humphries: 7.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg
- C Brook Lopez: 17.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.9 bpg
(Photo courtesy of YardBarker.com)