Tip-off: Monday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Blazers will be looking to earn a big home win over the Hawks on Monday.

The Hawks faced the Kings on Friday and were unable to come away with a road victory, losing 108-107 as 1.5-point favorites. Atlanta has now lost two of its past three games, and this team will be hoping to get back on track with a win on Monday. The Blazers, however, will also be hungry for a victory here. Portland has lost three of its past four games and just made a deal that sent Mason Plumlee to Denver for C Jusuf Nurkic (8.0 PG, 5.8 RPG). The Blazers picked up a first round pick in the deal, but they are also hoping that Nurkic can give them a bit of a push moving forward. One thing that favors Portland in this game is the fact that Atlanta has struggled against Western Conference teams this season. The Hawks are just 9-12 SU against the West this season, and they are also just 10-11 ATS in those contests. Atlanta is, however, 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS in its past four games against Portland. Two of those victories (SU and ATS) came at the Moda Center, and the Blazers will be hoping to keep them from winning a third straight in Portland on Monday.

The Hawks have lost two of their last three games, but they should feel confident about their chances to beat the Blazers on Monday. Portland is very weak inside, so C Dwight Howard (13.5 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 1.2 BPG) should very well dominate this game. Howard is averaging just 12.4 PPG over the past five games, but it’s not difficult to imagine the Hawks getting him more touches in this one. If he plays well then it’ll open things up for Atlanta’s guards. The same goes for PF Paul Millsap (18.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.5 SPG), who should also do some damage inside the paint in this one. Millsap is capable of shooting from the outside, but he’d be wise to attack the rim as often as possible on Monday. The backcourt will, however, need to step it up for Atlanta here. The Blazers have one of the best backcourts in basketball, so the Hawks will need somebody like SG Tim Hardaway Jr. (12.9 PPG) to play well here. Hardaway Jr. has been on fire for Atlanta, averaging 22.0 PPG over the past five games. He had 28 against the Kings, and the Hawks could use another 20 or so from him on Monday.

If the Blazers are going to come away with a win on Monday then both PG Damian Lillard (26.1 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.9 RPG) and SG C.J. McCollum (23.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.1 SPG) are going to need to show up. The Blazers are not the type of team that will beat their opponents inside. Instead, they rely on their backcourt to get up and down and try to score a ton of points. Both Lillard and McCollum can get hot in a hurry, and they’ll need to do that here. Portland will also need solid games from guys like PF Al-Farouq Aminu (8.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.0 SPG) and C Meyers Leonard (5.5 PPG. 3.2 RPG). Aminu will be counted on to stretch the floor in this game, and Leonard can do that as well. With Plumlee gone, and Nurkic not likely to play right away, Leonard should see an increase in minutes. He needs to be tough inside or Howard will dominate this game.