Preview: Wizards at Hawks

[October 27, 2016]  The Atlanta Hawks are banking on homesickness being the reason Dwight Howard's health and level of play fell off over the last few seasons. The Hawks will debut their new center in front of his hometown when they host the Washington Wizards in the season opener on Thursday.

Howard, who was born in Atlanta and drafted No. 1 overall out of high school by the Orlando Magic in 2004, agreed to a three-year, $70.5 million pact with the Hawks over the summer after averaging 13.8 points in 71 games for the Houston Rockets last season - his lowest scoring average since his 2004-05 rookie campaign. Howard's arrival came after the exits of star point guard Jeff Teague, who moved on to Indiana in free agency and opened the starting spot for Dennis Schroder, and center Al Horford to Boston. The Wizards stayed out of the race for big name free agents once it became clear that Kevin Durant was not going to return to his hometown and instead lavished a five-year, $127.2 million max deal on shooting guard Bradley Beal. The 23-year-old Beal has never made an All-Star team and played in just 55 games last season while dealing with leg injuries.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (2015-16: 41-41): The most important player for Washington is point guard John Wall, who is recovering from knee surgery and plans to see a minutes limit early in the season. "We have a great bench and we have some great backups," Wall told the Washington Post. "We trust those guys to run the team and do different things than what I do. I feel like they can hold their own and keep our unit going." That bench now includes point guard Trey Burke, who was acquired for a 2021 draft pick from the Utah Jazz and will try to improve on his 10.6 points and 2.3 assists from last season while backing up Wall.

ABOUT THE HAWKS (2015-16: 48-34): Atlanta thrived the last two seasons with big men that could pass and shoot from the outside like Horford and Paul Millsap, and those two aspects of the game have never been parts of Howard's skill set. A traditional back-to-the-basket or pick-and-roll big man like Howard has the Hawks rethinking an offense that led the Eastern Conference in scoring in 2014-15 and was fifth last year. "It's going to take some time, and it's going to be a process," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "I think the system and the structure is all very similar, but where and when and how (Howard) is open is pretty significantly different. I think our guys understand it, and now it's just getting more comfortable and more ready to operate that way."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Hawks All-Star PF Millsap (knee) is probable for Thursday.

2. Wizards C Ian Mahinmi (knee) will not be available until late November.

3. Atlanta took five of the last seven meetings but Washington earned a 109-98 win at home in the most recent meeting on April 13.

PREDICTION: Hawks 102, Wizards 101

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