The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
COVERAGE CLOSER THAN A COURTSIDE SEAT
State Farm Arena returns to 100% capacity for 2021-22.
Considering Trae Young exited the blowout loss with injury, there weren’t very many highlights from the Hawks’ first exhibition game of the 2021-22 season, a 125- 99 loss Monday in Miami.
But preseason is the time to iron out issues and get ready for when games count.
The Hawks host the Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. today and will have four exhibition games total before their regular season begins Oct. 21, hosting the Mavericks at State Farm Arena. Fanscan expect several of the team’s COVID-19 protocols at State Farm Arena to look similar to the end of last season.
There are two main excep- tions: for fans sitting further than 15 feet away of the court, masks will be recommended instead of required, and there won’t be separate vaccinated/unvaccinated sections, which were implemented for the playoffs. So, attending a home game will look much closer to what it did two seasons ago.
State Farm Arena will be back to 100% capacity for the 2021-22 NBA season (for the postseason, a few rows were blocked off behind team benches, but that won’t be the case this year). There will still be contactless entry, security screening and trans- actions, with touchless hand sanitizer and fixtures in bath- rooms, and the team is still utilizing increased cleaning procedures.
There are a few different rules for fans sitting in or with access to “player-ap- proximate areas,” or within 15 feet of the court, the back of the player bench/scor- er’s table, locker rooms or a back-of-house team area. Per NBA rules, those fans (age 2 or older) will have to show proof of vaccina- tion or return a negative COVID-19 test before the game (from a PCR test up to two days before a game day, or a rapid test from the day of the game), and will have to wear masks at all times, except when actively eating or drinking.
Some notes from Monday’s loss:
You’ll have to have a little patience to get a long look at the rookies.
But they certainly made a splash in the few minutes they shared in the fourth quarter, with Sharife Cooper throwing an alley-oop off the glass to Jalen Johnson, his Summer League teammate, in Trae Youngto-john Collins fashion. They entered in garbage time, so there’s not much concrete to assess as far as how NBAready the pair look, but both are slated to get more playing time Wednesday. Hawks coach Nate Mcmillan said Monday’s game would feature more veterans and players who were on the roster last season, and today’s will feature more younger players and new additions. Johnson finished with four points, one rebound, one steal and one block in 12 minutes, and Cooper had three assists and one steal in 10 minutes.
The Hawks looked a step slow. The Hawks were disorganized and got worked by Miami on defense, with poor shot selection often leading to transition baskets the other way. Turnovers, in particular, were rough, with the Hawks committing 16 and the Heat capitalizing with 28 points. Mcmillan has said conditioning is a point of emphasis in training camp, and this game showed the Hawks have a lot of tightening up to do before the regular season rolls around. “It showed that we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Mcmillan said.
Veteran contributions off the bench continue.
Building on what they did last season, Lou Williams and Danilo Gallinari gave the Hawks solid minutes off the bench. Williams finished with 13 points, two rebounds and a steal, and Gallinari added 14 points and two rebounds.