Atlanta @ Brooklyn preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 2, 2017 ) Atlanta 82, Brooklyn 91

The Atlanta Hawks have the misfortune of beginning the 2017-18 campaign with five straight games on the road, and they split the first two. The Hawks will try to make it two wins in the first three games when they visit the Brooklyn Nets in the first night of a back-to-back on Sunday.

Atlanta looked impressive in a 117-111 win at the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday but shot 37.9 percent in a 109-91 loss at Charlotte on Friday and squandered a 20-point first-half lead. "It's just growing pains, man," Hawks swingman Kent Bazemore told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "Learning how to continue to do the things that get us those kind of leads. It's encouraging to see we can play a great style of basketball and build a lead against a very seasoned team. It's something we've got to learn from. We've got three more games on this road trip. These nights are going to happen. Now it's just how are we going to bounce back." The Nets played their first game since learning that point guard Jeremy Lin would miss the rest of the regular season with a ruptured patella tendon on Friday and knocked off the Orlando Magic 126-121 in the home opener. "That's our brother," Brooklyn guard D'Angelo Russell told reporters. "You don't want to forget about him, but guys had to step up and they did."

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE HAWKS (1-1): Atlanta waved goodbye to three of its top four scorers from last season with Paul Millsap (18.1 points), Tim Hardaway Jr. (14.5) and Dwight Howard (13.5) moving on, leaving point guard Dennis Schroder to shoulder a larger share of the load. Schroder responded with an average of 26.5 points on 24-of-47 shooting in the first two contests but was not happy about the offensive execution in the second half of Friday's loss. "We had open shots," Schroder told the Journal Constitution. "Open floaters, open shots, pull-up jumpers but we didn't make them. It's a part of basketball. Sometimes you make them and sometimes you miss them. (Friday) we missed them in the second half."

ABOUT THE NETS (1-1): Russell slides into the starting point guard role with Lin out and struggled a bit on Friday with six assists against eight turnovers. "Gaining my teammates' trust is what it is," Russell told reporters after the game. "Today I turned the ball over when we needed a crucial play. I feel like every experience being in that position is going to gain my teammates' trust." Shooting guard Allen Crabbe began the season as the sixth man but slid into the starting lineup on Friday and struggled to nine points on 1-of-5 shooting in 23 minutes.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Nets PF Trevor Booker recorded a double-double in each of the first two games and is 13-of-21 from the field.

2. Atlanta SF DeAndre' Bembry suffered a fractured right wrist in the season opener and is not expected to play on Sunday.

3. The teams split four meetings last season, with Brooklyn taking the last two.

PREDICTION: Hawks 115, Nets 102