The Atlanta Hawks have continued to defy expectations after dealing with injury woes in this 2011-12 season. With a 14-6 record and just a half game behind the division leading Miami Heat, the Hawks have found new ways to win under the tutelage of second-year head coach Larry Drew.
However, a point of concern in recent games have been the slow starts by the Hawks versus lesser opponents.
"Sometimes you don’t look at an opponent how we would like at a Chicago versus how we look at a team like Detroit that has obviously struggled. Sometimes that factors into it. As a team we are going to have to figure it out, particularly our starters, when we get off to slow starts it takes a little bit of a wake-up call to get us going. Sometimes it’s going to be a situation where it’s going to be too late. We want to be a team that comes out and plays hard start to finish, whether it’s the first quarter or the third quarter. We’ve done that, but we haven’t done it on a consistent basis." -- Larry Drew
The Hawks will look to be aggressive versus the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday, as Atlanta looks to keep winning in the highly competitive Eastern Conference.
For more on this game Hawks fans should head on over to Peachtree Hoops and Hornets fans should stop by At The Hive. For more NBA news and analysis be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.