Rockets vs. Hawks game preview: Atlanta looks to stretch Houston’s misery to 17

The Atlanta Hawks are on a 5-game winning streak. The Houston Rockets are on a 16-game losing streak.

Well, that’s the preview!

Atlanta sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, and after a busy offseason, the expectation for them was clearly to get Trae Young into the playoffs. The Hawks brought in Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Clint Capela was available after sitting out last season with a foot injury. The Hawks had a core of Young and John Collins. Tony Snell, Solomon Hill, Nathan Knight, and Kevin Huerter round out the rotation.

Clint Capela is day-to-day with a left heel injury. That’s the same heel that caused him to miss significant time last season. Hopefully, the Swiss big man can get healthy in time for a postseason run for Atlanta.

With Eric Gordon and Danuel House Jr. out with injuries and PJ Tucker awaiting a trade to a contender, the Rockets only have one active player who was on the team last season (Ben McLemore). Good luck winning games when continuity is nonexistent. Stephen Silas is getting the raw end of the deal here, but Houston should, and will, give him time to implement a system with new players as they come in over the next few years.

Tip-off is at 7pm CT on AT&T SpotsNet Southwest