MARCUS MORRIS IS LOOKING GOOD

The New York Knicks split their back-to-back match-up with the Washington Wizards this past week. After winning a hard-fought 104-99 battle on the road, the team then failed to treat their home crowd to a victory as they gave up 41 points in the second quarter and went on to lose, 115-99.

The jury is still out as to who the main guy will be, but new Knick, Marcus Morris, appears to be aggressively stepping up to the plate. The eight-year veteran has looked sharp in his two preseason games (18 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 56% FG) and is offensively sound from various areas on the floor.

Morris can be expected to continue producing solid numbers against the Atlanta Hawks. While with the Boston Celtics last season, where he was – at best – the third scoring option, he was still able to net 13 PPG in the season series.

The 2019 NBA Draft’s second-overall pick, RJ Barrett, will continue gaining headlines for the Knicks. He has looked decent in the two preseason outings (16 PPG, 7 RPG) and should be able to get comfortable as the season rolls along.

BABY WARRIORS OR FUGAZI WARRIORS?

The Atlanta Hawks haven’t looked like the “Baby Warriors” after two preseason games this year. After giving up 133 points to the New Orleans Pelicans in the opener, they threw bricks in the following game versus the Orlando Magic as they only made 33.4% of their attempts (27-for-80).

Things should definitely get better in the near future because the enormous talent is undeniable. However, by looking at last year’s numbers, this next match-up doesn’t look to be favourable. The Hawks lost three of the four meetings against the Knicks this past season, with their up-and-coming star point guard, Trae Young, only scoring 15 per game and shooting 36% from the floor. John Collins, meanwhile, who’s another young cornerstone of the franchise, didn’t do much in the series as well – 12.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG.

Topping all of the uninspiring trends is the Hawks’ awful defense – 30^th in points allowed and 27^th in defensive rating. The drafting of wing defender DeAndre Hunter and big man Bruno Fernando, among others, is a good start in trying to fix the mess, but it’s tough to expect rookies to be effective, game-changing defenders right away.

PREDICTION:

Marcus Morris will lead the team’s attack and a handful of his teammates will handily follow suit. We should see a Knicks team revelling in the Hawks’ bottom-ranked defense. Expect a high-scoring game.