With an impressive 87-79 win over the New Orleans Hornets, one of the frontrunners for the Western Conference crown, the Atlanta Hawks have opened the season undefeated in their first three games for the first time since 1997.

It was also eleven years ago that the Hawks got their last 50-win season, a team goal they set coming into this season.

The word “TEAM” being in bold because that is exactly why Atlanta is currently 3-0. The Hawks are soaring because they are playing well together, particularly on the defensive end of the floor where they are currently the top team in the league allowing only 84 points per game…and that’s against three teams that each made the playoffs last season.

Coming into the game, New Orleans had averaged a league best 106.7 points in their first three games, but they were held to only 79 by the Hawks. How impressive is that? The Hornets scored less than 80 points only four times all of last season.

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