Hawks Unleash High-Octane Starting Five Against Rockets

The Atlanta Hawks are officially rolling out their most chaotic, high-octane starting five on Monday. According to Underdog NBA, Atlanta will open with CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu.

If you are looking for a gritty, defense-first lineup that grinds out possessions, you are watching the wrong basketball team. This specific five-man unit is built to do exactly one thing, and that is to make the scoreboard operator earn their paycheck.

"Lineup alert: Hawks will start McCollum, Alexander-Walker, Daniels, Johnson, Okongwu on Monday."

The numbers back up the madness. Last season, this exact group was the third-highest scoring lineup in the league among units that played at least 15 games together, pouring in 123.1 points per 100 possessions. For context, that is the kind of offensive efficiency that usually requires a team to be playing against folding chairs.

Keeping McCollum on the floor is the engine for this whole experiment. His presence allows Alexander-Walker and Daniels to play off the ball, which is exactly where they thrive. Alexander-Walker is already riding high after a recent 31-point outing, and any panic over a rumored arm injury for Daniels has been completely squashed.

Atlanta is currently treating the NBA like a track meet. They recently hung 135 points on the Dallas Mavericks and 132 on the Orlando Magic, proving they have absolutely zero interest in a low-scoring rock fight. Anyone staring at the betting total for Monday night against the Houston Rockets needs to understand that the Hawks are trying to break the math.

As long as this starting five stays intact, Atlanta is going to keep pushing the pace until the wheels fall off. Expect them to try and run Houston right out of the gym from the opening tip.