Wizards hit the road for a Monday night matchup against Hawks

The Washington Wizards hit the road to play the Atlanta Hawks for their first away game of the regular season.

Washington heads into this Eastern Conference showdown winless and have their sights set on their first win of the season. Meanwhile, Quin Snyder and the Hawks will have their eyes set on continuing their hot start and improve to 3-1 on the year.

Heading into Monday night’s matchup, here’s what you need to know about the Wizards and their opponent.

Washington’s backcourt has been the lone bright spot so far

The Wizards have struggled mightily through the first two games of the season, as expected. In the first matchup, Washington was steamrolled by the defending champions on their home floor. Then, in the following game, the Cavaliers did much of the same.

In two ugly games, it was hard to take away any positives at all. However, there were some signs of light at the end of the tunnel and it came from the team’s young backcourt.

For starters, Jordan Poole hit the ground running in the regular season opener with 26 points against the Boston Celtics. On the way to his impressive night, the Michigan product single-handedly kept the Wiz in the game with 20 first-half points. In addition to his efficient shooting night, Poole added four assists.

Heading into their second matchup against the Cavaliers, many hoped Poole would add to his 26-point outing with another monster scoring night. Instead, the guard seemingly passed the torch to second-year man Bilal Coulibaly.

The French product finished the night with a career-high 23 points on 9/16 shooting from the floor with six rebounds and an assist to go with it. An impressive showing from the 20-year-old in the second game of the season is exactly what the Wizards front office hoped to see from the former lottery pick.

Now the team just hopes they can get both backcourt running mates to thrive on the same night while getting consistent help from the frontcourt to string together a few wins.

The new-look Hawks mean business

The Atlanta Hawks made plenty of moves in the offseason to retool their roster around Trae Young. One of the major moves the team made, was offloading guard Dejounte Murray in a blockbuster deal that landed the team Dyson Daniels.

Since joining the Hawks, Daniels has looked like a reliable backcourt option alongside star Trae Young. Between the versatile guards and the leap of Onyeka Okungwu and Jalen Johnson, Atlanta has looked the part this season under Quin Snyder.

Not to mention the team’s impressive wing depth with former lottery pick De’Andre Hunter and Zaccharie Risacher.

With the depth and underrated starting lineup, the Wizards will have another test ahead of them as they seek their first win of the season.