Five big home games to watch in the first month
The Hawks have a road-heavy start to the 2025-26 season.
While they view every game as important, they’ll look to take advantage of the energy fans will bring to State Farm Arena. Fans can expect contests at home to include some tough matchups against teams national experts view as contenders.
Here are five big home games to watch during the Hawks’ first month of the season.
Oct. 25 vs. Thunder: The Hawks have a tough schedule to open the season. In just their first three games, they face the Magic on the road before turning around to host the defending champs at State Farm Arena.
The Thunder swept the Hawks last season. But with the new-look roster, they stack up against them a little better.
But this matchup includes some micro-storylines, including cousins Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander battling it out. It also features brothers Keaton and Cason Wallace matching up.
Nov. 4 vs. Magic: The Hawks and Magic often produce a tough, physical matchup. That likely won’t be any different next month when the two teams face off against each other for the second time in 11 days.
The Magic’s drafting of Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Paolo Banchero in back-to-back draft classes fast forwarded the team’s rebuild.
So, going up against the Magic, like every other team, will give the Hawks an idea of where they need to make adjustments.
Nov. 8 vs. Lakers: The Lakers always bring excitement to State Farm Arena, with a flurry of their fans filling the seats. Last season, the Hawks downed LeBron James and the Lakers in overtime with Young hitting the game-winning 3.
This time around, though, the Lakers won’t have James, who will miss the start of the season with sciatica.
But the Lakers will have Luka Doncic, who did not play against the Hawks last season. Hawks fans may remember that the last time Doncic played at State Farm Arena on Jan. 26, 2024, he scored 73 points and had 10 rebounds.
Nov. 18 vs. Pistons: When it comes this season’s Eastern Conference seedings, national analysts seem to have certainty on only the top three teams — the Knicks, the Cavaliers and the Magic.
Those experts can agree that the Hawks and Pistons should fall within the top five.
So, when Cade Cunningham and the Pistons come to State Farm Arena next month, the matchup could end up having some implications in the end of season seedings.
Nov. 28 vs. Cavs: The Hawks begin their first month of the season with a big test, and they wrap their opening month facing what could be the Eastern Conference’s best team.
The Hawks had success against the Cavaliers in two of their three meetings last season. Their one loss occurred in February after Jalen Johnson’s season-ending injury.
This season, the Hawks added more size to their lineup, and they have a little more playmaking.
But the Nov. 28 meeting also marks the return of former Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter to State Farm Arena after the team traded him in February.
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